Guidelines for Safety Assessment of Mechanical PET Recycling Process

On July 30, 2024, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) released a new guideline titled "Scientific Guidelines for the Evaluation Criteria and Preparation of Safety Assessment Applications for Post Consumer Mechanical PET Recycling Processes Used in the Manufacturing of Materials and Articles in Contact with Food".

This new guideline is considered a supporting document for the implementation of the EU's new regulations on recycled plastic food contact materials (FCM), namely the European Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/1616 issued on September 20, 2022. Specifically, this guide will assist applicants in preparing authorization applications or modifying existing authorizations for the "post consumer mechanical PET" recycling process. As of the date of its release, stakeholders should prepare their files in accordance with this new guideline.

Compared to the previous evaluation guidelines, the new guidelines provide more specific requirements for equipment and operation. For example, the new Guiding Opinions require:

1. The design and assembly of main and auxiliary equipment components (such as reactors, mixing systems, containers, extruders, crystallizers, preheaters, granulators) should be described in detail and accompanied by technical drawings and photos.

2. Technical files should include operational information for all equipment components belonging to the same process.