Food Packers Should Shun Recycled Plastics - Safety First!
Europe exports 60% of plastics and 13% of paper collected for recycling to China - but this has ended. China has banned imports of 24 categories of waste, citing environmental concerns. European recyclers saw a huge opportunity.
The European Commission is due to announce its Plastics Strategy in
January, aimed among other things at increasing the rate of plastic recycling
(currently at 30%), stopping leakage into the environment, and encouraging the
use of recycled materials.
However, the risk of
toxic substances contaminating food already exists with virgin plastic, so it
will only be higher with recycled packaging coming from old plastics that may
contain banned chemicals, says Floriana Cimmarusti.
Packaging manufacturers like BPS, East
West Packaging and PACQUEEN have stayed away from using recycled plastics in
food packaging until now because of safety concerns. Instead of using recycled
materials, these companies are dedicated to developing and producing fully recyclable pouch
or fully compostable and biodegradable pouch.
Recycled plastics can come from very
different places and contamination can happen very easily. Many types of plastics
absorb chemicals during use and waste management, which are difficult to remove
during recycling. The contamination risk with recycled plastic is clearly higher
than with virgin plastic.
For environmentalists, this could be a
step too far. In food, the risk of “contamination” from old products containing
legacy chemicals that are now banned is simply too high, said Tatiana Santos,
Senior Policy Officer on Chemicals at the European Environmental Bureau.
Recycled material is still a risk when it comes to food safety. When
you’re looking for more sustainable food packaging,
you should look at less-plastic or fully recyclable or plastic-free packaging
solutions. Regarding the future of
packaging, it’s all about recyclability and sustainability.
If PCR material is not workable, what
are the sustainable alternatives?
Blog Author: Nicola Wu
Blog Editor: Jasmine Zhang
Contact BPS Team: inquiry@bestpackagesolutions.net
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