News
The Food Packaging Forum reports on recent developments across the food packaging and health field.
December 9, 2020
15th European Bioplastics (EUBP) conference panel discusses role of biodegradable plastics in achieving climate neutral circular economy, argues application should be limited to waste collection applications; notes many composters still reject plastics, communication and clarification needed
Topics: biodegradability, EUPC
Reading time: 2 minutes
December 8, 2020
Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) publishes results of analyzed urine samples from 52 European decision-makers and public figures; tests for 28 chemicals commonly used in single-use plastic food packaging, shows average of 20 detected in each person; calls for decision-makers to prioritize public exposure to food contact chemicals
Reading time: 2 minutes
December 7, 2020
Smithers Pira’s annual conference on plastics and paper in contact with foodstuffs informs about the latest activities of the European Commission
Reading time: 4 minutes
December 4, 2020
NGOs and industry comment on changes to REACH Annexes VII and XI; criticize not taking into account current state of science, limiting the application of non-animal approaches, setting a cut-off date for existing data; concerns about repetition of animal studies among animal welfare NGOs
Reading time: 1 minute
December 4, 2020
New York governor Cuomo signs bill banning PFAS in all food packaging, effective from December 2022, follows Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse (TPCH) model registration; industry criticizes lack of alternatives
Reading time: 1 minute
December 3, 2020
Systematic review analyzes over 700 mixture studies, confirms additive models are a good approximation, finds research focus primarily on binary mixtures; European Commission (EC) plans mixture assessment factor (MAF) for REACH; development of general mixture risk assessment methods and viable approaches to regulation still needed
Reading time: 2 minutes
December 2, 2020
Research consortium secures 12 million Euro funding, launches projects in-built Triggered Enzymes to Recycle Multi-layers: an Innovation for USes in packaging (Terminus) and The Bio-Innovation of a Circular Economy for Plastics (BioICEP) ; set goal to solve problems associated with multilayered packaging, transform linear to a circular process
Reading time: 2 minutes
November 30, 2020
EU competent authorities for REACH and CLP (CARACAL) members debate merits of mandatory pre-registration of polymers under REACH; several EU member states voice support for pre-registration; discussion to continue in 2021
Reading time: 1 minute
November 30, 2020
App enables consumers to request information from providers on presence of substances of very high concern; launched in 15 EU countries
Reading time: 1 minute
November 30, 2020
Researchers led by the Food Packaging Forum (FPF) publish new database identifying over 12,200 distinct chemicals that could be used in manufacture of food contact materials and articles; 29% lacking openly accessible toxicity data; 608 identified as most hazardous, prioritized for substitution; published study and database freely accessible
Topics: regulation, toxicity testing
Reading time: 2 minutes
