On 20 September 2022, the European Commission has approved and published Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/1616 on food contact recycled plastic materials and articles, and repealed Regulation (EC) No 282/2008. The new regulation shall enter into force on 10 October 2022.

From 10 October 2024, the quality assurance systems of collection and pre-processing on plastic waste shall be certified by an independent third party; From 10 October 2024, analyses and tests by laboratories are required on the input batches and decontaminated output batches, to determine the contamination level.

Scope

The regulation lays down rules for:

1. The placing on the market of food contact recycled plastic materials and articles (plastic materials and articles falling within the scope of Article 1(2) of Food Contact Materials (FCMs) Framework Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004, containing plastic originating from waste or manufactured therefrom);
2. The development and operation of recycling technologies, processes and installations, to produce recycled plastic for use in food contact plastic materials and articles;
3. The use in contact with food of recycled plastic materials and articles and of plastic materials and articles which are intended to be recycled.

Requirements for recycled plastic materials and articles

Recycled plastic materials and articles shall only be placed on the market where following requirements are met during their manufacture:

1. Comply with the requirements set out in Chapter II (compositional requirements), Chapter III (specific provisions for certain materials and articles) and Chapter V (migration test) of Plastics FCMs Regulation (EU) No 10/2011;
2. Manufactured using a suitable recycling technology listed in Annex I, or a novel technology developed in accordance with Chapter IV of this regulation;
3. The manufacture of the recycled plastic is registered in Union register, and the status of the authorised recycling process used for the manufacturing is not “suspended” or “revoked”.

The regulation has specified detailed requirements on the manufacture using suitable recycling technology, and on the manufacture using a novel technology.

Currently, there are two suitable recycling technologies listed in Annex I: (1) post-consumer mechanical PET recycling, and (2) recycling from product loops which are in a closed and controlled chain. The former is subject to authorisation of individual processes, but recycling scheme does not apply. The latter is not subject to authorisation of individual processes, but recycling scheme applies.

The regulation has also specified general requirements for plastic recycling and the use of recycled plastic:

1. Collection and pre-processing
2. Decontamination
3. Post-processing and use
4. Operation of recycling schemes

The quality assurance systems of collection and pre-processing shall be certified by an independent third party (Apply from 10 October 2024).

Requirements for documentation, instructions and labelling

1. Individual batches of recycled plastic and of recycled plastic materials and articles shall be subject to a single document or record regarding their quality, and shall be identified by a unique number and the name of the manufacturing stage from which they originate.
2. Recycled plastic placed on the market shall be accompanied by a declaration of compliance in accordance with Article 29 of this regulation.
3.  Containers of recycled plastic delivered to converters shall be labelled. The label shall show the symbol defined in Annex II to FCMs Framework Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004,

followed by:

1. The symbol   and the registry number of the decontamination installation where the recycled plastic was manufactured;
2. The symbol  followed by the batch number;
3. The percentage by weight of the recycled content;
4. The maximum percentage by weight of the recycled content that final recycled plastic materials and articles containing the recycled plastic may contain, if this is less than 100%; and,
5. When the declaration referred to in paragraph 2 provides additional instructions, the symbol defined in ISO 7000 with reference number 1641:

The regulation has specified requirement the minimum font size on the labels.

Transition period

1. Recycled plastic materials and articles obtained by means of a recycling process based on a suitable recycling technology for which this Regulation requires the individual authorisation of recycling processes and for which a valid application has been submitted to the competent authority in accordance with Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 282/2008, or for which an application is submitted in accordance with Articles 17(1) or 22(1) of this Regulation at the latest on 10 July 2023 may be placed on the market until the applicant withdraws its application, or until the Commission adopts a decision granting or refusing authorisation of the recycling process;

2. Recycled plastic materials and articles obtained by means of recycling processes based on a recycling technology that is not considered suitable by this Regulation may continue to be placed on the market only until 10 July 2023, unless manufactured with a recycling installation that is operated for the purpose of development of a novel technology.

For more information, please visit:

(1) European Commission website on food contact recycled plastic materials and articles (link);

(2) Union Register (link)

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