Safety assessment of the process Ester Industries, based on the recoSTAR PET FG technology, used to recycle post-consumer PET into food contact materials

Claude Lambré; José Manuel Barat Baviera; Claudia Bolognesi; Andrew Chesson; Pier Sandro Cocconcelli; Riccardo Crebelli; David Michael Gott; Konrad Grob; Marcel Mengelers; Alicja Mortensen; Gilles Rivière; Inger Lise Steffensen; Christina Tlustos; Henk Van Loveren; Laurence Vernis; Holger Zorn; Vincent Dudler; Maria Rosaria Milana; Constantine Papaspyrides; Maria de Fátima Tavares Poças; Alexandros Lioupis; Emmanouil Tsochatzis; Evgenia Lampi; EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and, Processing Aids (CEP)

doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2022.7653

Safety assessment of the process Ester Industries, based on the recoSTAR PET FG technology, used to recycle post-consumer PET into food contact materials

Claude Lambré, José Manuel Barat Baviera, Claudia Bolognesi, Andrew Chesson, Pier Sandro Cocconcelli, Riccardo Crebelli, David Michael Gott, Konrad Grob, Marcel Mengelers, Alicja Mortensen, Gilles Rivière, Inger Lise Steffensen, Christina Tlustos, Henk Van Loveren, Laurence Vernis, Holger Zorn, Vincent Dudler, Maria Rosaria Milana, Constantine Papaspyrides, Maria de Fátima Tavares PoçasAlexandros Lioupis, Emmanouil Tsochatzis, Evgenia Lampi, EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and, Processing Aids (CEP)

Department of Food Science - Food Technology

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

The EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids (CEP) assessed the safety of the recycling process Ester Industries (EU register number RECYC261) using the recoSTAR PET FG technology. The input is hot washed and dried poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) flakes originating from collected post-consumer PET containers, mainly bottles, with no more than 5% PET from non-food consumer applications. The flakes are processed continuously under an inert gas flow. They are dried and crystallised in a first reactor and then further heated in a second reactor before being extruded into pellets. Having examined the challenge test provided, the Panel concluded that the drying and crystallisation (step 2), and the heating of the crystallised flakes (step 3) are the critical steps that determine the decontamination efficiency of the process. The operating parameters to control the performance of these critical steps are temperature, residence time and gas flow rate. It was demonstrated that this recycling process is able to ensure that the level of migration of potential unknown contaminants into food is below the conservatively modelled migration of 0.1 μg/kg food. Therefore, the Panel concluded that the recycled PET obtained from this process is not of safety concern, when used at up to 100% for the manufacture of materials and articles for contact with all types of foodstuffs for long-term storage at room temperature, with or without hotfill. Trays made of this recycled PET are not intended to be used in microwave and conventional ovens and such use is not covered by this evaluation.

Original language	English
Article number	e07653
Journal	EFSA Journal
Volume	20
Issue	12
Number of pages	13
ISSN	1831-4732
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2022.7653
Publication status	Published - Dec 2022

Keywords

Ester Industries
food contact materials
plastic
poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)
recoSTAR PET FG
recycling process
safety assessment

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Lambré, C., Barat Baviera, J. M., Bolognesi, C., Chesson, A., Cocconcelli, P. S., Crebelli, R., Gott, D. M., Grob, K., Mengelers, M., Mortensen, A., Rivière, G., Steffensen, I. L., Tlustos, C., Van Loveren, H., Vernis, L., Zorn, H., Dudler, V., Milana, M. R., Papaspyrides, C., ... EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and, Processing Aids (CEP) (2022). Safety assessment of the process Ester Industries, based on the recoSTAR PET FG technology, used to recycle post-consumer PET into food contact materials. EFSA Journal, 20(12), Article e07653. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2022.7653

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title = "Safety assessment of the process Ester Industries, based on the recoSTAR PET FG technology, used to recycle post-consumer PET into food contact materials",

abstract = "The EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids (CEP) assessed the safety of the recycling process Ester Industries (EU register number RECYC261) using the recoSTAR PET FG technology. The input is hot washed and dried poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) flakes originating from collected post-consumer PET containers, mainly bottles, with no more than 5% PET from non-food consumer applications. The flakes are processed continuously under an inert gas flow. They are dried and crystallised in a first reactor and then further heated in a second reactor before being extruded into pellets. Having examined the challenge test provided, the Panel concluded that the drying and crystallisation (step 2), and the heating of the crystallised flakes (step 3) are the critical steps that determine the decontamination efficiency of the process. The operating parameters to control the performance of these critical steps are temperature, residence time and gas flow rate. It was demonstrated that this recycling process is able to ensure that the level of migration of potential unknown contaminants into food is below the conservatively modelled migration of 0.1 μg/kg food. Therefore, the Panel concluded that the recycled PET obtained from this process is not of safety concern, when used at up to 100% for the manufacture of materials and articles for contact with all types of foodstuffs for long-term storage at room temperature, with or without hotfill. Trays made of this recycled PET are not intended to be used in microwave and conventional ovens and such use is not covered by this evaluation.",

keywords = "Ester Industries, food contact materials, plastic, poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), recoSTAR PET FG, recycling process, safety assessment",

author = "Claude Lambr{\'e} and {Barat Baviera}, {Jos{\'e} Manuel} and Claudia Bolognesi and Andrew Chesson and Cocconcelli, {Pier Sandro} and Riccardo Crebelli and Gott, {David Michael} and Konrad Grob and Marcel Mengelers and Alicja Mortensen and Gilles Rivi{\`e}re and Steffensen, {Inger Lise} and Christina Tlustos and {Van Loveren}, Henk and Laurence Vernis and Holger Zorn and Vincent Dudler and Milana, {Maria Rosaria} and Constantine Papaspyrides and {Tavares Po{\c c}as}, {Maria de F{\'a}tima} and Alexandros Lioupis and Emmanouil Tsochatzis and Evgenia Lampi and {EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and, Processing Aids (CEP)}",

year = "2022",

month = dec,

doi = "10.2903/j.efsa.2022.7653",

language = "English",

volume = "20",

journal = "EFSA Journal",

issn = "1831-4732",

publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd",

number = "12",

}

Lambré, C, Barat Baviera, JM, Bolognesi, C, Chesson, A, Cocconcelli, PS, Crebelli, R, Gott, DM, Grob, K, Mengelers, M, Mortensen, A, Rivière, G, Steffensen, IL, Tlustos, C, Van Loveren, H, Vernis, L, Zorn, H, Dudler, V, Milana, MR, Papaspyrides, C, Tavares Poças, MDF, Lioupis, A, Tsochatzis, E, Lampi, E & EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and, Processing Aids (CEP) 2022, 'Safety assessment of the process Ester Industries, based on the recoSTAR PET FG technology, used to recycle post-consumer PET into food contact materials', EFSA Journal, vol. 20, no. 12, e07653. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2022.7653

Safety assessment of the process Ester Industries, based on the recoSTAR PET FG technology, used to recycle post-consumer PET into food contact materials. / Lambré, Claude; Barat Baviera, José Manuel; Bolognesi, Claudia et al.
In: EFSA Journal, Vol. 20, No. 12, e07653, 12.2022.

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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T1 - Safety assessment of the process Ester Industries, based on the recoSTAR PET FG technology, used to recycle post-consumer PET into food contact materials

AU - Lambré, Claude

AU - Barat Baviera, José Manuel

AU - Bolognesi, Claudia

AU - Chesson, Andrew

AU - Cocconcelli, Pier Sandro

AU - Crebelli, Riccardo

AU - Gott, David Michael

AU - Grob, Konrad

AU - Mengelers, Marcel

AU - Mortensen, Alicja

AU - Rivière, Gilles

AU - Steffensen, Inger Lise

AU - Tlustos, Christina

AU - Van Loveren, Henk

AU - Vernis, Laurence

AU - Zorn, Holger

AU - Dudler, Vincent

AU - Milana, Maria Rosaria

AU - Papaspyrides, Constantine

AU - Tavares Poças, Maria de Fátima

AU - Lioupis, Alexandros

AU - Tsochatzis, Emmanouil

AU - Lampi, Evgenia

AU - EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and, Processing Aids (CEP)

PY - 2022/12

Y1 - 2022/12

N2 - The EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids (CEP) assessed the safety of the recycling process Ester Industries (EU register number RECYC261) using the recoSTAR PET FG technology. The input is hot washed and dried poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) flakes originating from collected post-consumer PET containers, mainly bottles, with no more than 5% PET from non-food consumer applications. The flakes are processed continuously under an inert gas flow. They are dried and crystallised in a first reactor and then further heated in a second reactor before being extruded into pellets. Having examined the challenge test provided, the Panel concluded that the drying and crystallisation (step 2), and the heating of the crystallised flakes (step 3) are the critical steps that determine the decontamination efficiency of the process. The operating parameters to control the performance of these critical steps are temperature, residence time and gas flow rate. It was demonstrated that this recycling process is able to ensure that the level of migration of potential unknown contaminants into food is below the conservatively modelled migration of 0.1 μg/kg food. Therefore, the Panel concluded that the recycled PET obtained from this process is not of safety concern, when used at up to 100% for the manufacture of materials and articles for contact with all types of foodstuffs for long-term storage at room temperature, with or without hotfill. Trays made of this recycled PET are not intended to be used in microwave and conventional ovens and such use is not covered by this evaluation.

AB - The EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids (CEP) assessed the safety of the recycling process Ester Industries (EU register number RECYC261) using the recoSTAR PET FG technology. The input is hot washed and dried poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) flakes originating from collected post-consumer PET containers, mainly bottles, with no more than 5% PET from non-food consumer applications. The flakes are processed continuously under an inert gas flow. They are dried and crystallised in a first reactor and then further heated in a second reactor before being extruded into pellets. Having examined the challenge test provided, the Panel concluded that the drying and crystallisation (step 2), and the heating of the crystallised flakes (step 3) are the critical steps that determine the decontamination efficiency of the process. The operating parameters to control the performance of these critical steps are temperature, residence time and gas flow rate. It was demonstrated that this recycling process is able to ensure that the level of migration of potential unknown contaminants into food is below the conservatively modelled migration of 0.1 μg/kg food. Therefore, the Panel concluded that the recycled PET obtained from this process is not of safety concern, when used at up to 100% for the manufacture of materials and articles for contact with all types of foodstuffs for long-term storage at room temperature, with or without hotfill. Trays made of this recycled PET are not intended to be used in microwave and conventional ovens and such use is not covered by this evaluation.

KW - Ester Industries

KW - food contact materials

KW - plastic

KW - poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)

KW - recoSTAR PET FG

KW - recycling process

KW - safety assessment

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U2 - 10.2903/j.efsa.2022.7653

DO - 10.2903/j.efsa.2022.7653

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 36514364

AN - SCOPUS:85145381857

SN - 1831-4732

VL - 20

JO - EFSA Journal

JF - EFSA Journal

IS - 12

M1 - e07653

ER -

Safety assessment of the process Ester Industries, based on the recoSTAR PET FG technology, used to recycle post-consumer PET into food contact materials

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Keywords

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