Prevented Ocean Plastic Obtains European Union (EU) Food-Grade Recycled PP Certification

Prevented Ocean Plastic's recycled polypropylene (PP) suitable for food contact has been approved by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

This is the first time recycled polypropylene has met the EU food safety standards (EU 2022/1616). The new regulation came into effect in 2022, replacing the previous EU regulation (EU 282/2008), which includes revised and stricter evaluation criteria. For example, the allowable limits for harmful substances such as toluene, chlorobenzene, and methyl salicylate have been reduced by up to 50% after purification treatment.

Prevented Ocean Plastic is a for-profit recycling initiative that operates plastic waste collection centers. Collectors from regions vulnerable to ocean plastic pollution gather waste and deliver it to local collection centers, where they are compensated. At these centers, packaging waste is sorted and compressed before being transported to plastic recycling factories. The factories clean, sanitize, and process the plastic into raw material flakes or pellets.

Polypropylene is widely used in products such as cups, trays, bottles, caps, and soft films, and it is the second largest plastic polluting the oceans. Despite its widespread application, the global recycling rate for post-consumer polypropylene is only 1%, with the vast majority either being landfilled, incinerated, or polluting waterways.

The Prevented Ocean Plastic program collaborates with five global partners to prevent 500 million polypropylene cups from entering the ocean within a year.

Innovia Films, Spectra Packaging, Bantam Materials UK, and PETMAN have all partnered with Prevented Ocean Plastic to work on polypropylene waste recycling.

The recycling work is promoted through the franchise model of Prevented Ocean Plastic, which was recently launched in East Kalimantan, Indonesia in 2024.

After collection, sorting, and cleaning, the materials are processed by PETMAN using Starlinger Viscotec technology to convert them into high-quality, food-contact safe recycled polypropylene. Subsequently, Bantam Materials, the UK operator of the Prevented Ocean Plastic project, supplies these recycled materials to purchasers.

Early adopters include Innovia and Spectra: Innovia will produce biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) soft films using recycled polypropylene; Spectra will produce bottles, cans, and caps through blow molding and injection molding processes.

Neil Hudson, the Recycling and Sustainability Technology Specialist at Innovia Films, stated, "For Innovia, obtaining polypropylene that is certified for EU food contact and sourced from mechanically recycled post-consumer material is a disruptive breakthrough. We can now produce films for labels and flexible packaging in the food and beverage sector, contributing to the circular economy and sustainability. Numerous professionals have been involved in this process, driving this mechanically recycled post-consumer polypropylene (PP) to meet the long-awaited EU food contact grade recycled polypropylene (rPP) standard."

Prevented Ocean Plastic has partnered with Nextloop to promote the use of recycled polypropylene in food contact applications in Europe and the United States.