Tagi Oferty: Recycling

Food packaging in Circular Economy

To tackle the climate crisis, the European Union seeks to promote the transition to a Circular Economy where products use less material, contain more recycled content and are easily recycled or reused. As part of this drive, the European Commission wants to ensure that “all packaging on the EU market is reusable or recyclable in an economically viable way by 2030”. The use of recycled plastics, especially as Food Contact Materials, is challenging but necessary due to a global convergence on concerns around the environmental impact of plastic. Sustainability objectives and the drive to a circular economy is an increasing demand for all recycled materials, and in particular plastics in packaging. Both, consumer demands and legislative changes have mandated a shift towards manufacturers reducing single-use plastics and the wider implementation of a circular economy.

WHAT ARE PCR MATERIALS?

PCR materials are recovered plastics that are recycled, i.e. re-processed. Mostly they originated from consumers, from used plastic packaging, which the consumer trash in the bin. The stream of such a waste includes: packaging from  food products, packaging from cosmetics, household chemicals or medicaments. Therefore, they are a mixture of such materials as: LDPE, HDPE, PP, PS, PET, laminates and other plastics.

WHY PCR MATERIALS?

Currently, the European Union takes the great emphasis great emphasis on increasing the usage of recycled plastics, including PCR plastics, for the production of packaging. The reason for this approach is the desire to reduce the amount of waste being landfilled and reduce the impact of the rainfall on the environment. According to the Single Use Plastic Directive of 2019. By 2025, PET beverage bottles are to contain at least 25% recycled plastic. From 2030, PET beverage bottles are to contain at least 30% recycled plastics. At the same time, the market of packaging for food and cosmetic products strives to produce packaging with the highest possible share of PCR material. This is a trend that has already started from for several years. Packaging made of 100% PCR is already available on the market.

SAFETY PCR MATERIALS AS FCMS

In accordance with the Regulation (EC) 1935/2004 each food contact material must be safe for the final recipient, i.e. the consumer, under foreseeable conditions of use. Regulation (EU) 1934/2004 defines this safety as:

  • no chemical release above safe limits,
  • no change in food composition,
  • no change in the organoleptic characteristics of the food.

Recycled plastics intended to be used in contact with food should also meet the requirements of the Commission Regulation (EC) No. 282/2008. The Work is currently underway to amend this regulation. The current legal status requires the use of PCR plastics behind a functional barrier. The above requirements can also be applied to packaging intended for cosmetics. The packaging manufacturer must ensure constant supervision of the entire production process and the composition in the final product. For this reason, there are additional risks associated with the use of PCR plastics. The most important is the possibility of contamination of the main material with admixtures of other materials. The final product may contain substances that are not allowed to come into direct contact with food, such as printing inks, adhesives, varnishes, coatings. PCR materials may contain substances that are commonly considered harmful and undesirable, such as: bisphenols, phthalates, heavy metals, SVHC substances and others. It should be remembered that production batches may differ significantly from each other.

The safety of food contact materials requires evaluation as chemicals can migrate from the materials into food. The materials should be manufactured in compliance with EU regulations, including good manufacturing practices, so that any potential transfer to foods does not raise safety concerns, change the composition of the food in an unacceptable way or have adverse effects on the quality of foods (for instance, taste and/or odour). For this reason, the scope and frequency of tests should be significantly increased. J.S. Hamilton Poland offers the wide range of analyzes to ensure the safety of the produced PCR materials is achieved.

At J.S. Hamilton, we offer the following services related to food packaging:

  • Consultancy on PCR materials as FCMs
  • Set-up of optimized testing plans for compliance verification of PCR
  • Documents review, DoCs for raw materials verification
  • Compliance assessment based on EU 10/2011
  • Toxicological risk assessment e.g. by TTC-concept method
  • Overall and specific migration for compliance with EU 10/2011
  • Non-Intentionally Added Substances (NIAS):
    • Headpsace-GC/MS Screening,
    • GC/MS Screening,
    • LC-QToF-MS Screening,
    • ICP-MS Screening,
    • Primary Aromatic Amines (PAAs).
  • Testing of hazarduos substances:
    • Metals
    • Bisphenols
    • Phthalates
    • Alkylphenols
    • Perfluorinated alkyl compounds (PFAS.)
    • Chlorinated paraffins (LCCP, MCCP, SCCP)
    • Mineral oils
    • Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)
    • Photoinitiators, acrylates and other compounds of printing inks
    • Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE)
    • Organotin compounds
    • Other SVHC substances

Contact our team today to learn more about food packaging tests and the demands of circular economy that your business might wish to satisfy.

Trainings

ABOUT TRAINING COURSES

J.S. Hamilton Poland conducts prestigious seminars, trainings, workshops and laboratory classes aimed at the food, cosmetics and household chemistry, packaging and environmental protection sectors. The participants of training courses can be: technologists, quality and laboratory workers, production department employees, personnel responsible for quality and product safety, managers and employees of legal or marketing departments. Everyone can raise their professional competence, improve work efficiency and better prepare themselves to carry out their professional tasks at a relatively low cost of training. J.S. Hamilton Poland is registered in the Register of Training Institutions (RIS) and the Database of Development Services – PARP, which allows the participants of our training courses to obtain co-financing of training from public funds.

Moreover, the competence of the trainers and the quality of the trainings conducted have been confirmed by the ISO 9001: 2015-10 Certificate in the scope of training and development and consulting services.

AREAS OF TRAINING

Our offer includes training in areas such as:

  • Food safety and quality, including training courses and workshops covering: sensory evaluation, microbiological testing, allergen and GMO analysis, food safety management systems, HACCP, ISO 22000, FSSC, BRC and IFS systems for retail chains, commodity and food quality training;
  • feed safety, the implementation of HACCP procedures, the GMP+ system, the legal aspects of trade in feed and provisions relating to its labeling;
  • Packaging, including: training on BRC food packaging safety, global and specific migration, eco-design, life cycle and packaging recycling;
  • Cosmetics, including: training and workshops on sensory and microbiological analysis of cosmetics, legal requirements for safe use and labeling of cosmetic preparations;
  • Environmental protection, including: training and workshops on sewage sludge management, packaging waste management, municipal tasks in the field of environmental protection, charges for using the environment;
  • Chemicals and petroleum products, including: training in liquid fuel sampling light fuel oil sampling, test methods for fuel oil and liquid fuels, quantity accounting for fuel oil.

TRAINING STAFF

Training courses are conducted by lecturers drawn from our own staff, using their extensive knowledge and experience. We also invite experts and auditors of leading certification companies, employees of consulting companies from Poland and abroad to give lectures.

The mission of our company is to take care of the welfare of our customers by satisfying the educational needs of the participants of our seminars and training courses and by organising training courses at the highest level.

TRAINING PACKAGES

We offer training packages, covered by a special discount, which will allow you to obtain the necessary knowledge in a given subject. After each training included in the package you receive a certificate confirming your participation in the training, and completion of the whole package guarantees obtaining a specialist certificate.

CLOSED TRAINING

In order to meet the expectations of our clients, we organise training adapted to the needs and specificity of the company. Each training included in the training schedule can be realised as a closed training on customer’s request. This also applies to training courses which are not listed in the training schedule.

Training courses and workshops are organised at a time and location determined by the client. Programs are usually priced according to the number of days and the number of participants so that the company can save considerable sums of money in the case of larger groups and reduce travel and accommodation costs by organising the training at its own premises. Each participant receives training materials. The training ends with a certificate or attestation confirming the highest quality of training.

QUALITY AND FOOD SAFETY MANAGEMENT ACADEMY J.S.HAMILTON POLAND

The Training and Audit Department of J.S. Hamilton Poland also invites for a cycle of training courses, which in a comprehensive way prepares present and future employees of quality departments of food industry companies for the role of managers responsible for the development, implementation and improvement of food and packaging safety and quality management systems.

In one semester (165 hours), students of the Academy acquire knowledge in the areas of food contaminants, sensory analysis, packaging regulations, quality management system requirements and food safety. Our lecturers, experienced auditors and managers of quality departments in food industry companies, share their practical knowledge with the students on how to carry out and document audits and interpret legal provisions.