Scientific Opinion on the safety assessment of the processes “Roxane Nord” and “Stute”, based on KRONES® technology used to recycle post‐consumer poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) into food contact materials

This scientific opinion of the EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids deals with the safety assessment of the recycling processes Roxane Nord and Stute (EU register number RECYC017 and RECYC104, respectively) which are based on the KRONES® technology. The input to the processes is washed and dried poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) flakes originating from collected post‐consumer PET containers and containing no more than 5 % PET from non‐food consumer applications. In this technology, washed and dried PET flakes are transferred by two heated conveyors under atmospheric pressure into a reactor where they are decontaminated at high temperature under vacuum. Having examined the results of the challenge test provided, the Panel concluded that three steps, the pre‐heating and the heating in the conveyors and the decontamination in the vacuum reactor, are the critical steps that determine the decontamination efficiency of the processes. The operating parameters to control the performance of these critical steps are temperature, residence time, and, for the vacuum reactor, also pressure. Under these conditions, it was demonstrated that the recycling processes are able to ensure that the level of migration of potential unknown contaminants into food is below the conservatively modelled migration of 0.1 μg/kg food. Therefore, the Panel concluded that the recycled PET obtained from these processes when used up to 100 % for the manufacture of materials and articles for contact with all types of foodstuffs for long term storage at room temperature, with or without hotfill, is not considered of safety concern.