Terminology and Standards Recycled PET in Food Packaging: Terminology and Standards Background Faerch is on a mission to making food packaging circular. In a circular economy, food trays are made from recycled content and recycled into food trays of the same quality again and again. PET is the only plastic type that allows true circularity in food packaging, as it can be made fully from recycled post-consumer content in food contact applications, while not compromising on food safety or any other functional properties. PET is a well-known food contact material used in bottles, and it is becoming the standard material in rigid food packaging. Its homogenous material composition makes it ideal for recycling, and its degradation process is reversible. It can be grinded, melted and made into new food packaging in an infinite number of cycles. Post-Industrial PET material is called Post-Industrial (PI or “preconsumer”) if it consists of unused products (e.g. manufacturing errors), production offcuts or process scrap supplied from a third party producer, who cannot recycle or re-use it and therefore perceive it as waste. Post-Industrial PET can, for example, come from skeleton waste from a form-fill-seal process or waste from production of bottles (scrapped preforms/bottles/errors). However, to qualify as Post-Industrial, the material must be purchased externally and delivered by a third party. The share of recycled content is a key indicator to assess the sustainability of a food container. When referring to recycled content, distinguishing between post-consumer content, post-industrial content and other material is key to ensure comparability between different solutions. Definitions Post-Consumer Virgin Content In offcuts and scrap that contain virgin material generated from a manufacturer’s own production process that is grinded and used again in its products, it is important to split the fractions of virgin, PI and PCR up when looking at recycled content. Virgin content should never be classified as recycled content but as virgin material. PET material is called Post-Consumer (PCR) if it has been in the hands of consumers, has reached the end of its use and is perceived as waste. Post-consumer PET is collected from deposit systems, curbside collection and closed-loop systems. It is sorted and mechanically recycled into food grade recycled PET (rPET) for use in new food packaging. Food grade rPET has been made from used bottles for many years, and with its recycling facility in the Netherlands, Faerch can also recycle used trays into new food packaging at an industrial scale. Recycled Content Faerch strongly recommend the application of the most ambitious definition when referring to recycled content in food packaging. Packaging producers should make best use of Post-Industrial content, and offcuts and scrap containing virgin material from their own production processes should be used. However, virgin scrap and virgin offcuts from internal production should not be classified as recycled content. Only those materials that have been in use by consumers and that have been recycled (post-consumer content) should qualify and be referred to as post-consumer recycled content both as direct input or as re-grind. 1 Recycled PET in Food Packaging // February 2020 - Faerch A/S
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