Plastics have become the dominant material in the packaging industry. Plastic packaging is resistant and lightweight, offers excellent thermal and electrical insulation properties, has a slow degradation rate, and is resistant to acids, bases, and other chemicals. Moreover, it is cost-effective compared to alternatives like glass or metal.
Plastic Packaging Regulation for Food
In Europe, EU Regulation No. 10/2011 governs packaging and plastic materials that come into contact with food. Authorities frequently update this regulation with amendments to reflect advancements in plastic materials, scientific knowledge, and technology. This regulation ensures rigorous controls are in place to confirm the suitability and safety of plastics intended for food contact.
Packaging Contaminants
Chemical contaminants, which may raise concerns in food products, can migrate from packaging materials.
Migration tests are crucial for ensuring compliance with food contact material legislation and identifying potentially hazardous substances in packaging. These tests, along with specific screenings, help in detecting substances. This supports risk analysis, especially when the exact composition of packaging materials is unknown.
European Plastic Strategy
The EU is actively discussing the issue of single-use plastics due to their significant role in marine pollution. This pollution poses a serious threat to ecosystems, biodiversity, and human health. Regulations aim to reduce single-use plastics, encourage reuse, and promote efficient recycling within a circular economy framework.
This has led to the emergence of sustainable plastic alternatives that are compostable, biodegradable, or bio-based. All of these are regulated under EU Regulation No. 10/2011 when used for food contact, ensuring they undergo the same safety checks as traditional plastics.
Safety of Recycled Plastic Packaging
Sustainability is a hot topic in packaging, especially concerning food. As packaging becomes waste after its initial use, the European Commission’s circular economy package has sparked debate on managing packaging waste. Global pollution concerns drive the push towards recycling, which EU regulations reinforce, indicating a future with commonplace recycled packaging.
The circular economy model aims to repurpose products for equal value, envisioning a scenario where companies recycle food packaging into new food packaging. Several multinational companies and retail chains have committed to using only recycled packaging, reducing packaging volume, or increasing the recycled PET content in bottles. Despite these efforts, the current demand for recycled plastics is only 6% of total production (source: WWF). Challenges include ensuring the safety of recycled materials, as the recycling process can introduce contaminants like Non-Intentionally Added Substances (NIAS), impurities, or degradation products. Common contaminants include additives, stabilizers, substances from non-food-grade plastics, metals, and odor-causing molecules.
Paper recycling also faces contamination issues, enhanced by the lack of distinction between food-safe and non-food-safe paper in recycling streams. Recent concerns include mineral oil contamination in recycled paper and the presence of endocrine-disrupting bisphenols and phthalates.
Despite these challenges, the pursuit of sustainable packaging must also prioritize safety for all food-contact materials, requiring meticulous planning and testing to prevent unexpected contaminant migration.
Our Comprehensive Packaging Services
Mérieux NutriSciences has long been involved in researching food contact materials, offering specialized testing services to ensure the safety of recycled packaging. This includes:
- NIAS Screening: a comprehensive approach to detect substances unintentionally introduced during recycling.
- Challenge tests: validate the decontamination efficacy of recycling processes, including their ability to maintain a functional barrier against contaminants in multi-layer packaging.
- Functional barrier assessments and sensory analyses: ensure that recycled materials do not compromise food safety or alter taste.
