Recycled Packaging
The material on this website is intended to help support the use of recycled packaging by New Zealand food and beverage companies.
The documents are designed to provide background knowledge on recycled packaging, important food safety, quality issues and packaging functionality aspects to consider. The Project summary document is suggested as being a good place to start the journey.
The Guideline document is put forward as an approach that companies could follow when introducing or expanding the use of recycled packaging. It is however acknowledged that each situation / application for recycled packaging use is unique and the guidelines may be needed to be amended to suit.
To further add the food industry links are supplied to companies that supply recycled packaging or offer services related to the use of recycled packaging.
The recycling packaging suppliers or service providers mentioned on this website are provided for informative purposes only. The NZFSSRC does not endorse any of the mentioned suppliers or service providers You are strongly encouraged to conduct your own research into the suppliers or service providers before acquiring their services. Neither NZFSSRC nor Massey University has any liability to you in relation to your use of the mentioned supplier(s) or service providers.
This project summary explains why the New Zealand food industry, food processors and recycled packaging manufactures / suppliers should work together to develop a shared understanding of the safety and quality risks associated with each product / packaging application and to design appropriate safety and quality assurance programmes.
The sources, occurrence and challenges of non-intentionally added substances (NIAS) in recycled packaging is outlined. How the nature of the NIAS, the packaging material, food and its storage conditions impact on the migration of substances and their impact on product safety is discussed.
The guidelines are designed to provide a framework that New Zealand food and beverage companies can implement to ensure that the use of recycled packaging is not adversely impacting on the safety and quality of the products they produce.
This paper discusses the complexity of the interactions between recycled packaging and its contents and how this may impact on product quality (and safety). It outlines how suitable mitigation process requires a good understanding of the recycled packaging / product “system” and the development of a quality framework that identifies critical packaging parameters and generates acceptable quality limits (taking the form of a product specification) that can be used to control the identified risks.
Stakeholder’s (food industry, regulators, packaging suppliers) perceptions of the challenges associated with the use of recycled food packaging are outlined and ten key recommendations are made.
This systematic review compiles information regarding substances detected in non-permanent food packaging materials, focusing mainly on plastics, paper, and paperboards. The compilation of literature studies (110 research articles) on the presence of intentionally added substances (IAS) and non-intentionally added substances (NIAS) in food packaging materials, their migration, toxicity, and dietary exposure has been summarized, evaluated, and discussed.