21 June 2019

Food Contact News

EUROPE
EU COUNCIL ADOPTS SINGLE-USE PLASTIC BANS

European Council formally adopts new rules on single-use plastics and recycling targets; directive completes final step before becoming law; England to ban plastic straws, stirrers, and cotton buds from April 2020

The European Council adopted the Single-Use Plastics Directive on May 21, 2019. The Directive will impact plastic food-contact articles through several initiatives, including bans on certain single-use plastics, increased collection goals, measures to reduce the consumption of plastic food containers, and extended producer responsibility requirements.

The Single-Use Plastics Directive also establishes compliance dates for Member States (MSs) and deadlines for the European Commission to issue guidelines to help MSs implement the Directive. The Commission issued a statement expressing concern about the tight deadlines set by the Directive.

 

NORTH AMERICA
U.S. BILL TO BAN PFAS FROM FOOD PACKAGING

Representative Debbie Dingell from the U.S. state of Michigan introduces bill in U.S. congress to ban all per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances from food containers and cookware

Legislation recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives seeks to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) to deem any perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) used as a food contact substance to be unsafe and, therefore, adulterated under the FD&C Act. The “Keep Food Containers Safe from PFAS Act,” H.R. 2827, would give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) until 2022 to enforce this ban.

At least one state has banned the use of PFAS in certain food contact materials, and several similar bills have been introduced in other states. Washington State updated its Toxics in Packaging Law (RCW 70.95G) last year to include the ban on PFAS in food packaging made from paper and paperboard. The ban is scheduled take effect January 2022, if the Washington State Department of Ecology identifies safer alternatives by conducting an alternatives assessment prior to that date.