Plastic pollution has become one of the ten most pressing global environmental issues. Major problems associated with plastic include ocean pollution and microplastics in food. To combat these issues countries and organizations around the world have taken various actions to reduce, reuse, and recycle plastic products. In 2018, the EU released a Strategy for Plastics, which aimed to enhance the use of recycled plastics to over 50% by 2030. On Jan 19, 2020, China publicized an important file called “Opinions on further mitigating against plastic pollution” banning the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags in some cities by 2020. The “opinions” also bans the production and sale of disposable dinnerware made of plastic foam, household and personal care products containing microbeads, etc.
The application of recycled plastics in food packaging will be the next trend. In the US, as revealed by the NAPCOR (National Association for PET container Resources) report issued in 2017, 21% of the recycled PET containers were used in the manufacturing of new food contact materials and beverage bottles. In 2019, the EU put forward a target to incorporate 30% of recycled plastic in beverage bottles from 2030 and 25% for PET bottles from 2025. Companies like Coca-Cola and Danone are also committing themselves to the use of recycled plastics. By 2030, at least 50% of the packaging materials of Coca-Cola will be replaced by recycled materials.
ChemLinked organized this webinar to overview regulatory requirements on the use of recycled plastics in food packaging in China, the EU, and the US.
