Meaning
Regulatory parameters established by European food safety authorities define the maximum permissible exposure to chemical contaminants migrating from recycled plastics into food. Compliance with efsa safety criteria requires mechanical recyclers to prove that residual surrogates remain below toxicological concern thresholds after processing. The scope covers post-consumer polyolefins and polyester packaging intended for direct food contact applications.
Toxicological Threshold
Toxicological evaluations establish a human exposure ceiling of 0.0025 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day for unidentified substances in recycled polymers. Meeting efsa safety criteria forces recyclers to characterize worst-case contamination levels in incoming waste bales before thermal decontamination. When input contamination exceeds design limits, chemical cleaning efficiency drops below statutory requirements.
Challenge Validation
Surrogate chemical spikes introduced into post-consumer flake measure the removal efficiency of high-vacuum reactors and extrusion degassing units. Decontamination trials demonstrate whether efsa safety criteria are achieved under minimum residence times and maximum throughput speeds. Operating conditions outside these validated processing windows invalidate regulatory compliance for downstream moulding operations.
Standardized challenge tests utilize volatile, non-volatile, polar, and non-polar surrogates to stress the recycling plant against severe contamination scenarios.
Moulding Limitation
Converter plants processing approved post-consumer resin must maintain melt temperatures below degradation thresholds to prevent thermal re-generation of volatile species. Even when efsa safety criteria are satisfied during pellet production, excessive shear inside the injection moulding barrel can generate new migratory degradation products. Downstream converters track melt residence times to ensure finished packaging retains food contact compliance.
