Scientific Opinion on the safety assessment of the process "Aliplast Buhler A" used to recycle post-consumer PET into food contact materials

This scientific opinion of the EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids deals with the safety assessment of the recycling process Aliplast Buhler A (EU register number RECYC041). The input of the process is hot caustic washed and dried PET flakes originating from collected post-consumer PET containers, mainly bottles, containing no more than 5 % of PET from non-food consumer applications. Through this process, washed and dried PET flakes are extruded into pellets, crystallised and subsequently further decontaminated in a continuous countercurrent reactor under high temperature and inert gas flow. Having examined the challenge tests provided, the Panel concluded that the fourth step, the decontamination in continuous countercurrent reactor for solid state polymerisation (SSP) is the critical step that determine the decontamination efficiency of the process. The operating parameters to control its performance are the temperature, the inert gas flow and the residence time. The operating parameters of this step in the process are at least as severe as those obtained from the challenge tests. Under these conditions, it was demonstated that the recycling process is able to ensure that the level of migration of potential unknown contaminants into food is below a conservatively modelled migration of 0.1 μg/kg food. Therefore, the recycled PET obtained from this process. intended to be used up to 100 % for the manufacture of materials and articles for contact with all types of foodstuffs for long term storage at room temperature, with or without hotfill, is not considered of safety concern.