Workshop – Recycling of Novel Non-PET Plastics

Background & objectives 

One promising alternative to reduce the environmental footprint of packaging is the use of recycled materials. In Europe, the PPWR (packaging and packaging waste regulation) will require between 10 and 35% minimum recycled content for plastic food packaging by 2030 (and more from 2040).  

Nowadays, recycled food contact plastic includes mainly PET as it is the only type of recycled plastic listed as suitable technology by the regulation in Europe and for which there are clear evaluation criteria defined by authorities such as EFSA. Consequently, the development of mechanically recycled plastic beyond PET is very limited in Europe so far. 

Therefore, the objective of this workshop is to reflect on the safety assessment of recycling processes for polyolefins and polystyrene and to try to determine the most appropriate evaluation criteria for the safety of these materials. These requirements would help ensure all the potential safety risks are taken into account and controlled with a holistic approach from feedstock to final articles reaching the consumer in compliance with the high standards of safety expected by EFSA. 

(PET is out of scope, this is not a training workshop - purpose is to discuss and prepare guidelines with criteria for recycling of PO and PS) 

Workshop Structure 

The workshop will last about 8 hours in total, split over 2 sessions. The first session will be a plenary session with 2 parts: 

1. Introduction of the workshop objectives and brief presentation of ILSI Europe and the Packaging Materials Task Force. 

1. Presentation of current context for the development of novel recycling technologies in Europe: focus on polyolefins and polystyrene    

During the 2nd session, participants will be split in 2 groups and will be organized to collect their feedback on the following aspects: 

1. Opportunities and challenges in setting evaluation criteria for the safety assessment of recycled polyolefins 

1. Opportunities and challenges in setting evaluation criteria for the safety assessment of recycled polystyrene 

Then, each group will be invited to share their feedback with the entire audience.  

The 2nd session will end by discussing the relevance and feasibility of establishing evaluation criteria for the recycling process of polyolefin and/or Polystyrene.