Developed countries have strict rules to prohibit use of recycled plastic, especially in packaging of food products.
In the United States of America:
Manufacturers are responsible for ensuring that the recycled product is of suitable purity. Each proposal of using recycled plastic is evaluated before issuing a no-objection letter.
A proposal has to be supplemented with information that is relevant to make the decision which includes:
The complete recycling process
Description of the source of the post-consumer plastic
Description of steps taken to avoid contamination
Tests to show that all potential contaminants have been removed during the recycling process
Description of the future use of the plastic
In the European Union:
As per the EU ‘plastic strategy’ in 2018, Only food-contact materials and articles that contain recycled plastics obtained from an authorised recycling process may be marketed in the EU after petitions for recycling processes are evaluated.
Moreover, plastics regulation rules outline specific requirements for manufacturing and marketing within the EU plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food.
In Asian Countries: Most countries in Asia lack a specific regulation to explicitly allow or prohibit the use of recycled plastics in food applications. Recent updates by Korea, China and Thailand indicate that the region may soon see food packaging applications using recycled materials.
