PLASTIC Food Packaging

PLASTIC food packaging

PROPERTIES AND APPLICATIONS Plastic is light-weight, versatile, and inexpen- Since the 1950s, plastic has found countless Plastic is often used in combination with other sive. Most types of plastics are made with applications in food packaging items, such as materials such as paper & board, metals, fossil carbon, but renewable carbon sources bottles, trays, bags, and films. glass, printing inks, adhesives, and coatings. are increasingly used as raw material.

COMPOSITION OF PLASTIC CHEMICAL SAFETY PACKAGING Plastics can transfer chemicals into packaged Plastics consist of polymers forming the food or beverages. This process is called structure of the material, and various additives chemical migration. In most cases, some of further customize the technical properties. A the migrating chemicals are known, while large variety of different chemicals can be used many others are identified only partially or not to produce plastic food packaging. Many of at all. Chemical migration depends on factors them have hazardous properties, and others such as food type, temperature, and storage lack publicly available toxicity data. In addition, time. Its impact on human health is still not well plastics contain so-called non-intentionally understood. added substances, including degradation products, contaminants, and reaction by-products.

Polymers Food Plastic Additives

MICROPLASTICS END-OF-LIFE Plastic packaging can also End-of-life options for plastic release microplastic particles packaging include landfill, incin- during production, use, and at the eration, and recycling. However, end-of-life. Therefore, it is a source incorrect disposal and leaching of of human and environmental plastic packaging into the environ- exposure to microplastics that can ment leads to severe pollution. have unknown consequences. RECYCLING of plastic food packaging

Recycling of plastic food packaging is widely seen as a measure to These rules usually allow only food-grade materials as feedstock and reduce its environmental impacts. However, plastic food packaging require that the chemical safety of the recycled food packaging be can only be recycled to a limited extent due to its material properties, ensured. Therefore, only selected types of plastic are currently recycled waste management processes, and chemical safety concerns. In many into new food packaging, but most plastic food packaging is either not countries, the recycling of plastic food packaging is regulated. at all recycled or it is downcycled.

no down- limited recycling cycling recycling recycling

material properties and/or missing addition of virgin material and special material properties and chemical processes do not allow recycling measures needed to guarantee function safety of recycled food packaging into new food packaging and safety of recycled food packaging remain high after repeated cycles

How is plastic What needs to Does it recycled? be addressed? work?

MECHANICAL RECYCLING QUALITY PET BOTTLES Plastic food packaging is almost exclusively During mechanical recycling, the polymer Recycling of beverage bottles made of recycled by mechanical processes that backbone can break into pieces leading polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is the best- include collecting, sorting, washing, and to loss of performance. Therefore, plastic known example for recycling of plastic food grinding of the material. Since the product cannot be recycled indefinitely. To packaging. The availability and material is not sufficiently clean for food contact at compensate for lower quality, higher levels properties of post-consumer, food-grade this stage, more decontamination steps are of additives and virgin polymer are often PET enable decontamination and recycling necessary, e.g., high-temperature, vacuum, needed. processes. In most cases, recycled PET is or inert gas treatments, before it can be blended with 60% or more virgin material to remelted and reformed. achieve the needed material properties and CONTAMINATION SOURCES chemical safety requirements. CHEMICAL RECYCLING In addition to the chemicals present in virgin plastics, recycled plastic food OTHER PLASTIC PACKAGING The principle of chemical recycling is to packaging can also contain contaminants break down plastic polymers into smaller originating from other sources, for example, Besides PET, most other types of plastic molecules for reuse in new syntheses. food components or non-food chemicals food packaging are currently only downcy- In general, these processes have a high absorbed during previous use, degradation cled or not recycled at all. Possible reasons energy demand and generate toxic products in aged plastics, and process include the lack of waste collection and waste. Therefore, they need to be further chemicals. Recycling streams may also be separation schemes as well as insufficient developed to make them operable at a contaminated with non-food grade plastics decontamination processes. For multilayer large scale. (e.g., waste electronic devices). plastic packaging, no efficient recycling processes exist at all.

https://www.foodpackagingforum.org/resources/packaging-fact-sheetsFactsheets on other materials Stay up to date: https://www.foodpackagingforum.org/FoodPackagingForum.org

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4923040