The EU Directive 94/62/EC on Packaging & Packaging Waste, places requirements and targets on the reuse and recycling of waste packaging materials to reduce waste and save resources. Stimulated by new ecology driven EU and national regulations, new routes of recycling waste tend to appear on the market in a continuous stream. An important approach consists in making new packages from post consumer used packages as food packages represent a large percentage of the plastics consumption and have a short lifetime. However, EU food packaging regulations require that packaging materials must be safe and there is often a contradiction between the two flows of legislation and regulations. Potential mass transfer of harmful recycling related substances to the food must be excluded and test methods are needed to ensure the safety of recycled materials.
