The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has updated its guidance on the use of recycled plastics in food packaging.Guidance for Industry: Use of Recycled Plastics in Food Packaging (Chemistry Considerations) was first issued in August 2006. The July 2021 update includes “Paperwork Reduction Act information and non-substantive formatting and editing revisions.”
Ontario’s provincial government recently announced expansions to its producer-led Blue Box recycling program. The update to Ontario’s extended producer responsibility (EPR) program will expand service to more communities and standardize the list of materials that can be recycled across the province. The expansion will also make producers fully responsible for the cost and operation of the program.
Efforts to increase plastic recycling and reuse are underway both by industry and regulators. Three plastics and material science companies announced last month the establishment of the Closed Loop Circular Plastics Fund to invest in scalable recycling technologies, equipment upgrades and infrastructure solutions that advance the recovery and recycling of plastics in the U.S. and Canada. An initial investment of $25 million was made by Dow, LyondellBasell, and NOVA Chemicals.
Washington State has enacted a law that establishes minimum recycled content requirements for certain plastic products and prohibits the sale and distribution of certain expanded polystyrene products. The law will also limit the distribution of single-use plastic products by food service establishments. In addition, the law, which becomes effective on July 17, 2021, establishes registration and reporting requirements for manufacturers of certain plastic products.
The Australian Government has released a plan to reduce plastic waste. Currently, 2.5 million metric tons of plastic waste is generated in Australia each year, with 13% of that recovered.
The Washington State legislature has passed a bill that establishes minimum recycled content requirements for certain plastic products, prohibits the sale and distribution of certain expanded polystyrene products, and limits the distribution of single-use plastic products by food service establishments. The bill also establishes registration and reporting requirements for manufacturers of certain plastic products.
Keller & Heckman Partner Rachel Bond will be one of the speakers at Circular Polyolefins Americas. The title of her presentation is, “Regulatory Update on Recycled Plastics for Food Contact in U.S. and Latin America.”
Targets set by brand owners and regulators are contributing to a growing demand for recyclates and U.S. lawmakers are increasingly interested in shifting more of recycling costs to packaging producers and brand owners. Yet, supply to meet established targets remains limited, especially for recycled resins to be utilized in food and beverage packaging.
Germany’s Draft Twenty-second Ordinance amending the German Ordinance on Consumer Goods, which establishes limits on the transfer of mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH) from food contact materials (FCMs) made from recycled paper and board, has been notified to the World Trade Organization (WTO) under the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Agreement. The Draft is open for comment by the WTO Member States until 21 May 2021.
A state-by-state comparison of recycling rates for a common set of containers and packaging materials (CCPM) in the U.S. is provided in a recently released report commissioned by the Ball Corporation. The report ranks U.S.
As we reported in October 2020, California became the first state in the U.S. to require a minimum post-consumer recycled resin in plastic bottles (see CA to Require Minimum Recycled Content in Plastics Bottles). Other states may follow California’s lead. Washington, New Jersey, and Oregon are three states where legislatures have introduced bills requiring the use of post-consumer recycled content in certain types of packaging.
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