Plastic resin made from recycled milk and juice bottles at a Pact-operated recycling facility in Melbourne has passed rigorous testing for use in food and drink packaging.
The recycled rFresh 100 food-grade natural High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) resin is produced at the Circular Plastics Australia (CPA) recycling plant in Laverton, where plastic milk and juice bottles collected from kerbside recycling bins are sorted, shredded, washed and sanitised before final conversion to a high-quality, food-grade resin.
Shareef Khan, Pact Executive General Manager, Recycling, said milk bottles made with recycled rFresh 100 resin were tested in international facilities and met food safety requirements under US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 21 CFR 177.1520. These food-contact tests included both chemical end tests and sensory assessments.
“We are extremely aware of the stringent focus on food safety from our dairy customers and want to ensure that we can provide the highest standard product possible,” Khan said.
“Being US-FDA compliant means that new milk and juice bottles can be manufactured from up to 100 per cent recycled rFresh 100 resin.”
The CPA recycling facility in Laverton is also Food Safety System Certification (FSCC) 22000-certified, and the operations are supported by an on-site testing laboratory to assure the recycled resin complies with the US FDA regulations.
FSCC is a globally recognised food safety certification scheme ensuring food safety through the supply chain. It’s designed for businesses in the food industry and is part of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), a benchmark for food safety standards.
The recycled rFresh 100 HDPE resin will be used to make milk, cream, sauce and juice bottles, and personal care containers at Pact’s packaging manufacturing facilities throughout Australia.
The CPA (PE) facility, a joint venture between Pact and Cleanaway Waste Management, has the capacity to recycle up to 20,000 tonnes of HDPE milk, dairy and juice bottles a year, or the equivalent of half a billion two-litre milk bottles.
Khan said numerous independent studies show that using recycled plastic in packaging helps to lower carbon emissions by reducing the use of virgin resin made from fossil fuels. Recycling also diverts thousands of tonnes of plastic waste from landfill.
“Plastic packaging that is designed effectively and made with recycled material that is recyclable and recycled properly can stay in the circular economy almost indefinitely,” Khan said.
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