FAO Warns: Recycled Plastics Pose Food Safety Risks

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has issued a warning regarding potential risks associated with using recycled plastics for food packaging. Existing safety evaluation systems may not sufficiently account for chemical contamination that can arise from a plastic's previous applications or from the recycling process itself.

These concerns are particularly relevant as the world increasingly turns to recycled plastics to meet circular economy targets and reduce packaging waste. The FAO report highlights that substances not intentionally added to plastics, such as breakdown products or impurities, can migrate into food, posing a risk to human health. Current global regulatory frameworks for assessing these risks are inconsistent, with some regions like the EU having established processes, while others lack harmonized methods for identifying and evaluating unknown substances.

Experts emphasize that while recycled plastics offer environmental benefits, their reintroduction into food supply chains requires rigorous safety assurances. The complexity of diverse feedstock origins and the potential for contaminants from previous uses make comprehensive verification challenging. As the packaging industry expands its use of recycled materials like rPET to meet sustainability mandates, the FAO advocates for stronger, standardized risk assessment approaches that cover the entire lifecycle of recycled plastics.