EFSA Journal (Nov 2023)

Safety assessment of the process INCOM RESOURCES RECOVERY (TIANJIN), based on the Buhler technology, used to recycle post‐consumer PET into food contact materials

  • EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids (CEP),
  • 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,
  • Maria Rosaria Milana,
  • Constantine Papaspyrides,
  • Maria de Fátima Tavares Poças,
  • Emmanouil Tsochatzis,
  • Evgenia Lampi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2023.8403
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 21, no. 11
pp. n/a – n/a

Abstract

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Abstract The EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids (CEP) assessed the safety of the recycling process INCOM RESOURCES RECOVERY (TIANJIN) (EU register number RECYC312), which uses the Buhler technology. The input material consists of hot washed and dried poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) flakes originating from collected post‐consumer PET containers, e.g. bottles, including no more than 5% PET from non‐food consumer applications. Washed and dried flakes are extruded into pellets, which are dried and crystallised in a reactor and then preheated and further treated in a solid‐state polymerisation (SSP) reactor. The recycled pellets are intended to be used at up to 100% for the manufacture of materials and articles for contact with all types of foodstuffs, including drinking water, for long‐term storage at room temperature or below, with or without hotfill. The Panel concluded that the information submitted to EFSA is inadequate to demonstrate that this recycling process is able to reduce potential unknown contamination of the input PET flakes to a concentration that does not pose a risk to human health.

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