Safety assessment of the process ‘Morssinkhof Plastics’, used to recycle high‐density polyethylene and polypropylene crates for use as food contact materials

Vittorio Silano , Claudia Bolognesi , Laurence Castle , Kevin Chipman , Jean Pierre J. P. Cravedi (1) , Karl‐heinz Engel , Paul Fowler , Roland Franz , Konrad Grob , Rainer Gürtler , Trine Husøy , Sirpa Kärenlampi , Wim Mennes , Karla Pfaff , Gilles Rivière , Jannavi Srinivasan , Maria de Fátima Tavares Poças , Christina Tlustos , Detlef Wölfle , Holger Zorn , Vincent Dudler , Nathalie Gontard (2) , Eugenia Lampi , Cristina Nerin , Constantine Papaspyrides , Alexandros Lioupis , Maria Rosaria Milana

1 ToxAlim - ToxAlim
2 UMR IATE - Ingénierie des Agro-polymères et Technologies Émergentes

This scientific opinion of the EFSA Panelon Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids (CEF Panel) deals with the safety evaluation of the recycling process Morssinkhof Plastics', EU register NoRECYC0142. The input consists of crates, boxes, trays, pallets and containers, hereafter termed crates', used in food contact, made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or polypropylene (PP). It comprises unused damaged crates, prewashed used crates and parts of crates originating from closed and controlled product loops. The process separates crates by material type and food type (fruit, vegetables and prepacked meat vs unpacked meat). Flakes from recycled HDPE or PP are produced that will be used by customers to manufacture new crates for food contact. The Panelconsidered that the management system put in place to ensure compliance of the origin of the input with Commission Regulation (EC) No282/2008 and to provide full traceability from input to final product is the critical process step. It concluded that the input of the process Morssinkhof Plastics' originates from product loops which are in closed and controlled chains designed to ensure that only materials and articles which have been intended for food contact are used and that any contamination can be ruled out when run under the conditions described by the applicant. The recycling process Morssinkhof Plastics' is, therefore, able to produce recycled HDPE and PP suitable for manufacturing HDPE and PP crates intended to be used in contact with dry food, fruits and vegetables, prepacked and unpacked meat. The use of regrind from external' recyclers only based on private agreements, does not give reassurance to fall under the scope of Art. 4 c (i) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 282/2008 and is excluded from the present evaluation.

Mots clés: 'Morssinkhof Plastics'; food contact materials; plastic; high-density polyethylene (HDPE); polypropylene (PP); recycling process; safety assessment

Domaines: Alimentation et Nutrition; Ingénierie des aliments

Vittorio Silano, Claudia Bolognesi, Laurence Castle, Kevin Chipman, Jean Pierre J. P. Cravedi, et al.. Safety assessment of the process ‘Morssinkhof Plastics’, used to recycle high‐density polyethylene and polypropylene crates for use as food contact materials. EFSA Journal, 2018, 16 (1), 9 p. ⟨10.2903/j.efsa.2018.5117⟩. ⟨hal-02617982⟩