Influence of the 3-Hydroxyvalerate Content on the Processability, Nucleating and Blending Ability of Poly(3-Hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate)-Based Materials.

Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate (P(3HB-co-3HV) copolymers are an attractive class of biopolymers whose properties can be tailored by changing the 3-hydroxyvalerate monomer (3HV) concentration, offering the possibility of counteracting problems related to high crystallinity, brittleness, and processability. However, there are few studies about the effects of 3HV content on the processability of copolymers. The present study aims to provide new insights into the effect of 3HV content on the processing step including common practices like compounding, addition of nucleation agents and/or amorphous polymers as plasticizers. P(3HB-co-3HV)-based films containing 3, 18, and 28 mol % 3HV were processed into films by extrusion and subsequent molding. The characterization results confirmed that increasing the 3HV content from 3 to 28 mol % resulted in a decrease in the melting point (from 175 to 100 °C) and an improvement in mechanical properties (i.e., elongation at break from 7 ± 1% to 120 ± 3%). The behavior of P(3HB-co-3HV) in the presence of additives was also investigated. It was shown that an increase in the 3HV content leads to better miscibility with amorphous polymers.

Integrating the latest biological advances in the key steps of a food packaging life cycle.

This literature review provides a focus on the potential of integrating the latest scientific and technological advances in the biological field to improve the status of the key steps of a food packaging life cycle: production, usage, post-usage, and long-term fate. A case study of such multi-biological food packaging is demonstrated based on the use of PHAs (polyhydroxyalkanoates) polymer, a microbiologically produced polymer from non-food renewable resources, activated by the use of bioactive components to enhance its usage benefits by reducing food loss and waste, displaying potential for reusability, compostability as post-usage, and finally, being ultimately biodegradable in most common natural conditions to considerably reduce the negative impact that persistent plastics have on the environment. We discuss how designing safe and efficient multi "bio" food packaging implies finding a compromise between sometimes contradictory functional properties. For example, active antimicrobials help preserve food but can hamper the ultimate biodegradation rate of the polymer. This review presents such antagonisms as well as techniques (e.g., coatings, nanoencapsulation) and tools (e.g., release kinetic) that can help design optimized, safe, and efficient active food packaging.

Cascading (3D) reconstruction procedure of composite structures from microtomography data.

Reconstruction of three-dimensional (3D) structure from experimental image acquisition (e.g., from micro computed tomography data) is very useful in composite material science. Composite considered are characterized by a dispersion of particles in a continuous phase. Many properties of the composite (e.g., mass transfer properties) depend on its structural assembly. A reliable prediction of these properties requires to well represent this structure and especially, the region at the vicinity of the dispersed phase. (3D) structure generation must thus permit to (1) simplify the real composite structure observed to make it compatible with further modelling tasks (e.g., meshing constraints in finite elements methods, computation time) and (2) keep enough representativeness of the structure of the specimen to produce reliable numerical predictions. This article describes an innovative, cascading (3D) reconstruction procedure of composite material from microtomography data.•First step of this pipeline is the extraction of relevant structural markers from microtomography images using image analysis.•Second step is the modelling of the distribution of the structural markers selected (statistical laws).•Third and final step is the reconstruction of the (3D) structures based on the pre-determined distribution laws in a RVE (representative volume element) of the composite.

Oxygen Scavenging Hybrid Nanostructure: Localization of Different Iron Nanoparticles on Montmorillonite Clays Host.

According to the great potential of zero-valent iron nanoparticle applications in the environmental, medical, chemical, packaging and many other industries, there is still a need to tailor their production methods. This study reports the production of a hybrid nanostructure based on iron nanoparticles (INPs) produced in/on montmorillonite (MMT) nanoclays as an oxygen scavenger and barrier additive in polymeric packaging materials of oxygen-sensitive products. INPs and MMT were demonstrated to have effective mutual interactions in which the MMT host played a chemophysical trapping role for iron particles, causing smaller particles around 10 nm with 6.2 g/m2 higher specific surface area by limiting particle growth and agglomeration. In return, the embedding of primary iron cations in/on clays and growth of these particles during the reduction reaction pushed the clay layers out and helped further clay intercalation-exfoliation. Effective study of solvent and primary cation (Fe2+/Fe3+) types showed different preferences in interacting with natural and alkylammonium-modified MMT, resulting in the different site selection. Fe2+ cations preferred to migrate to the interlayer space, whereas Fe3+ cations tended to bond to the clay surface. The obtained results in this study suggest tailoring the ultimate oxygen scavenging capacity, shelf life, and migration properties of a hybrid nanoparticle according to the application requirements.

Physical-Chemical and Structural Stability of Poly(3HB-co-3HV)/(ligno-)cellulosic Fibre-Based Biocomposites over Successive Dishwashing Cycles.

In order to lengthen the life cycle of packaging materials, it is essential to study their potential for reuse. This has been never carried out for emerging bio-based and biodegradable materials such as PHBV/(ligno-)cellulosic fibre-based biocomposite materials. This work therefore highlights the impact of successive dishwashing cycles on the physical-chemical and structural stability of such materials. Several parameters were considered to assess this stability, such as the visual aspect and colour, the microstructure, the thermal and tensile properties, and the overall migration in food liquid simulants. The effect of fibre composition, morphology, and content was investigated by selecting three types of commercial (ligno-)cellulosic fibres and two filler contents (20 and 40 wt%). A great potential for reuse of PHBV films was highlighted by their high stability after up to at least 50 dishwashing cycles. However, the addition of (ligno-)cellulosic fillers negatively impacts the stability of PHBV-based materials, especially due to the hygroscopic behaviour of (ligno-)cellulosic fillers and the heterogenous microstructure of biocomposites, with at best up to 10 possible dishwashing cycles for ultra-pure cellulose. In conclusion, reuse including dishwashing steps can be considered for neat PHBV materials, while this should be prohibited for PHBV/(ligno-)cellulosic fibre-based biocomposite materials.

3D Modelling of Mass Transfer into Bio-Composite.

A three-dimensional model structure that allows considering interphase layer around permeable inclusions is developed to predict water vapor permeability in composite materials made of a matrix Poly(3-HydroxyButyrate-co-3-HydroxyValerate) (PHBV) including Wheat Straw Fiber (WSF) particles. About 500 two-phase structures corresponding to composites of different particles volume fractions (5.14-11.4-19.52 % v/v) generated using experimental particles' size distribution have permitted to capture all the variability of the experimental material. These structures have served as a basis to create three-phase structures including interphase zone of altered polymer property surrounding each particle. Finite Element Method (FEM) applied on these structures has permitted to calculate the relative permeability (ratio between composite and neat matrix permeability P/Pm). The numerical results of the two-phase model are consistent with the experimental data for volume fraction lower than 11.4 %v/v but the large upturn of the experimental relative permeability for highest volume fraction is not well represented by the two-phase model. Among hypothesis made to explain model's deviation, the presence of an interphase with its own transfer properties is numerically tested: numerical exploration made with the three-phase model proves that an interphase of 5 µm thick, with diffusivity of Di≥1×10-10 m2·s-1, would explain the large upturn of permeability at high volume fraction.

Urban parks and gardens green waste: A valuable resource for the production of fillers for biocomposites applications.

Urban parks and gardens green waste constitute a low-cost and highly available lignocellulosic-rich resource, that is currently treated in composting or anaerobic digestion processes. The present work investigated for the first time the potential of using urban green waste as raw resource for the production of lignocellulosic fillers by dry fractionation (combination of sorting and grinding processes). Five fractions of lignocellulosic fillers with controlled composition were produced: a branches-rich fraction, a grasses-rich fraction, a leaves-rich fraction, and two fractions constituted of a mixture of constituents. All the fractions were ground to reach an average median diameter around 100 µm. The reinforcing effect of each fraction was investigated and compared to that of the sample as a whole. Biocomposites based on a poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) as matrix were produced by melt extrusion, with filler contents up to 30 wt%. It was shown that the branches-rich fraction displayed the best reinforcing effect (e.g. stress at break of 37 ± 1 MPa for a filler content of 15 wt%, similar to that of the neat matrix) whereas the grasses-rich fraction slightly degraded the overall mechanical performance (e.g. stress at break of 33.5 ± 1.5 MPa for a filler content of 15 wt%). The dry fractionation and formulation steps could be thus adapted depending on the targeted application, e.g. by choosing to use the whole urban green waste resource, or to remove grasses, or to keep only branches.

Eco-Conversion of Two Winery Lignocellulosic Wastes into Fillers for Biocomposites: Vine Shoots and Wine Pomaces.

Two winery residues, namely vine shoots (ViSh) and wine pomace (WiPo), were up-cycled as fillers in PHBV-based biocomposites. Answering a biorefinery approach, the impact of a preliminary polyphenols extraction step using an acetone/water mixture on the reinforcing effect of fillers was assessed. Biocomposites (filler content up to 20 wt%) were prepared by melt-mixing and compared in terms of final performance (thermal, mechanical and barrier). It was shown that the reinforcing effect was slightly better in the case of vine shoots, while it was not significantly affected by the pre-treatment, demonstrating that these two winery residues could be perfectly used as fillers in composite materials even after an extraction process to maximize their potential of valorization.

Food-Grade PE Recycling: Effect of Nanoclays on the Decontamination Efficacy.

Although PE-based nanocomposites are gaining interest within the food packaging industry for their outstanding functional properties, their end-of-life has been poorly studied. The lack of identification of such materials suggests that they could end-up in the recycling pathway optimized for the decontamination of un-filled PE. The objective of the present work is to understand and quantify the mechanisms involved in the high temperature desorption of surrogates for PE nanocomposites filled with organo-modified montmorillonite (PNC), compared to conventional PE. An original experimental setup was coupled with a modelling approach to identify the two phenomena involved in the decontamination process: diffusion of the surrogate into the bulk and its evaporation at the surface. A sweep of experimental temperatures enabled the determination of diffusion and evaporation parameters for PE and PNC and the activation energies related to the diffusivity among those two materials. The effects of the introduction of clay nanofillers onto the decontamination process have been explained and recommendations for the recycling pathway have been put forward.

Elaboration and Characterization of Active Films Containing Iron-Montmorillonite Nanocomposites for O2 Scavenging.

Iron particles of sizes between 6 and 20 nm forming aggregates of 57 ± 17 nm were synthesized by chemical reduction of iron precursors on the surface of montmorillonite (MMT). This active MMT-Fe powder was then uniformly distributed in a linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) matrix by extrusion at atmospheric conditions, as confirmed by wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS), which also detected a partial exfoliation of the nanoclays. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) did not detect any significant modification of the degradation temperature between nanocomposites and active nanocomposites. 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy evidenced the formation of a majority of iron boride in MMT-Fe as well as in the active film containing it. The LLDPE.Fu15.MMT-Fe3.75 and LLDPE.Fu15.MMT-Fe6.25 films had oxygen-scavenging capacities of 0.031 ± 0.002 and 0.055 ± 0.009 g(O2)/g(Fe), respectively, while the neat powder had an adsorption capacity of 0.122 g(O2)/g(Fe). This result confirms that the fresh film samples were partially oxidized shortly after thermomechanical processing (60% of oxidized species according to Mössbauer spectroscopy). No significant difference in oxygen permeability was observed when MMT-Fe was added. This was related to the relatively small film surface used for measuring the permeability. The reaction-diffusion model proposed here was able to reproduce the observed data of O2 adsorption in an active nanocomposite, which validated the O2 adsorption model previously developed for dried MMT-Fe powder.

Mitigating the Impact of Cellulose Particles on the Performance of Biopolyester-Based Composites by Gas-Phase Esterification.

Materials that are both biodegradable and bio-sourced are becoming serious candidates for substituting traditional petro-sourced plastics that accumulate in natural systems. New biocomposites have been produced by melt extrusion, using bacterial polyester (poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate)) as a matrix and cellulose particles as fillers. In this study, gas-phase esterified cellulose particles, with palmitoyl chloride, were used to improve filler-matrix compatibility and reduce moisture sensitivity. Structural analysis demonstrated that intrinsic properties of the polymer matrix (crystallinity, and molecular weight) were not more significantly affected by the incorporation of cellulose, either virgin or grafted. Only a little decrease in matrix thermal stability was noticed, this being limited by cellulose grafting. Gas-phase esterification of cellulose improved the filler's dispersion state and filler/matrix interfacial adhesion, as shown by SEM cross-section observations, and limiting the degradation of tensile properties (stress and strain at break). Water vapor permeability, moisture, and liquid water uptake of biocomposites were increased compared to the neat matrix. The increase in thermodynamic parameters was limited in the case of grafted cellulose, principally ascribed to their increased hydrophobicity. However, no significant effect of grafting was noticed regarding diffusion parameters.

How Vine Shoots as Fillers Impact the Biodegradation of PHBV-Based Composites.

Vine shoots are lignocellulosic agricultural residues. In addition to being an interesting source of polyphenols, they can be used as fillers in a poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) matrix to decrease the overall cost and to propose an alternative to non-biodegradable fossil-based materials. The objective of the present work was to investigate how the incorporation of vine shoots fillers and a preliminary polyphenol extraction step could impact the biodegradability of biocomposites. Biocomposites (20 wt %) were produced by microcompounding. The biodegradation of materials was assessed by respirometric tests in soil. The negative impact of polyphenols on the biodegradability of vine shoots was confirmed. This was supported by crystallinity measurements and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations, which showed no difference in structure nor morphology between virgin and exhausted vine shoots particles. The incorporation of vine shoots fillers in PHBV slightly accelerated the overall biodegradation kinetics. All the biocomposites produced were considered fully biodegradable according to the French and European standard NF EN 17033, allowing the conclusion that up-cycling vine shoots for the production of lignocellulosic fillers is a promising strategy to provide biodegradable materials in natural conditions. Moreover, in a biorefinery context, polyphenol extraction from vine shoots has the advantage of improving their biodegradability.

Gas barrier enhancement of uncharged apolar polymeric films by self-assembling stratified nano-composite films.

The gas (O2 and CO2) permeability of an innovative stratified PE-organoclay (LLDPE/OMMT) nano-enabled composite films was studied for the first time and related to the self-assembly process driven by hydrophobic interactions. An 84.4% and a 70% reduction (i.e. a barrier improvement factor of about 6, sufficient for food packaging applications) were observed respectively in the oxygen and carbon dioxide permeability of the 5 bilayers coated film compared to the substrate, while only incorporating 2.4 v/v% of organoclay in the composite and increasing the thickness by 17.7%. Such drastic effect with so low amount of organoclays cannot be achieved by conventional melt blending/exfoliation of the clays into the polymer matrix and is due to a geometrical blocking effect of a brick-wall and compact layer structure of the impermeable clay tactoids. Mathematical prediction of oxygen barrier performance of PE/OMMT films has revealed that 12 bilayers would be necessary to further achieve a barrier improvement factor of 10.

The Next Generation of Sustainable Food Packaging to Preserve Our Environment in a Circular Economy Context.

Packaging is an essential element of response to address key challenges of sustainable food consumption on the international scene, which is clearly about minimizing the environmental footprint of packed food. An innovative sustainable packaging aims to address food waste and loss reduction by preserving food quality, as well as food safety issues by preventing food-borne diseases and food chemical contamination. Moreover, it must address the long-term crucial issue of environmentally persistent plastic waste accumulation as well as the saving of oil and food material resources. This paper reviews the major challenges that food packaging must tackle in the near future in order to enter the virtuous loop of circular bio-economy. Some solutions are proposed to address pressing international stakes in terms of food and plastic waste reduction and end-of-life issues of persistent materials. Among potential solutions, production of microbial biodegradable polymers from agro-food waste residues seems a promising route to create an innovative, more resilient, and productive waste-based food packaging economy by decoupling the food packaging industry from fossil feed stocks and permitting nutrients to return to the soil. To respond to the lack of tools and approach to properly design and adapt food packaging to food needs, mathematical simulation, based on modeling of mass transfer and reactions into food/packaging systems are promising tools. The next generation of such modeling and tools should help the food packaging sector to validate usage benefit of new packaging solutions and chose, in a fair and transparent way, the best packaging solution to contribute to the overall decrease of food losses and persistent plastic accumulation.

A global visual method for measuring the deterioration of strawberries in MAP.

Evaluating the quality changes of packed strawberries during storage requires multiple, time consuming and costly measurements such as sensorial, chemical and decay identification. In order to efficiently assess the quality of strawberries in Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) while reducing the number of analysis done, we propose to gather the main visual quality changes under one unique, overall measurement. For this end, a protocol associated to a deterioration grid was built to evaluate surface deterioration as a function of time considering color change, texture softening and microorganism development. The developed method has permitted to build the deterioration kinetic of strawberries packed in different conditions (MAP or no MAP). It allows to mimic the quality analysis made by the consumer, at a glance, during purchase. To the best of our knowledge, the presented method is a breakthrough unlike most common usual methods mainly relying on the number of spoiled strawberries. •Global measurement of the deterioration encompassing microorganism development, color change and texture softening.•An annotation grid built to be used as reference for the attribution of the percentage of strawberries' deterioration.•Measurements of a percentage of surface deterioration was found more accurate than counting the number of rotten strawberries.

Safety assessment of the process 'Morssinkhof Plastics', used to recycle high-density polyethylene and polypropylene crates for use as food contact materials.

This scientific opinion of the EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids (CEF Panel) deals with the safety evaluation of the recycling process 'Morssinkhof Plastics', EU register No RECYC0142. The input consists of crates, boxes, trays, pallets and containers, hereafter termed 'crates', used in food contact, made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or polypropylene (PP). It comprises unused damaged crates, prewashed used crates and parts of crates originating from closed and controlled product loops. The process separates crates by material type and food type (fruit, vegetables and prepacked meat vs unpacked meat). Flakes from recycled HDPE or PP are produced that will be used by customers to manufacture new crates for food contact. The Panel considered that the management system put in place to ensure compliance of the origin of the input with Commission Regulation (EC) No 282/2008 and to provide full traceability from input to final product is the critical process step. It concluded that the input of the process 'Morssinkhof Plastics' originates from product loops which are in closed and controlled chains designed to ensure that only materials and articles which have been intended for food contact are used and that any contamination can be ruled out when run under the conditions described by the applicant. The recycling process 'Morssinkhof Plastics' is, therefore, able to produce recycled HDPE and PP suitable for manufacturing HDPE and PP crates intended to be used in contact with dry food, fruits and vegetables, prepacked and unpacked meat. The use of regrind from 'external' recyclers only based on private agreements, does not give reassurance to fall under the scope of Art. 4 c (i) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 282/2008 and is excluded from the present evaluation.

Safety assessment of the process 'Envases Ureña', based on Starlinger Decon technology, used to recycle post-consumer PET into food contact materials.

This scientific opinion of the EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids (CEF Panel) deals with the safety evaluation of the recycling process Envases Ureña (EU register No RECYC0147), which is based on the Starlinger Decon technology. The decontamination efficiency of the process was demonstrated by a challenge test. The input of this process is hot caustic washed and dried poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) flakes originating from collected post-consumer PET containers, mainly bottles, containing no more than 5% of PET from non-food consumer applications. In this technology, washed and dried PET flakes are preheated before being submitted to solid-state polycondensation (SSP) in a continuous reactor (one single reactor or several reactors in parallel) at high temperature under vacuum and gas flow. Having examined the challenge test provided, the Panel concluded that the preheating (step 2) and the decontamination in the continuous SSP reactor (step 3) are the critical steps that determine the decontamination efficiency of the process. The operating parameters that control the performance of the process are well defined and are temperature, pressure, residence time and gas flow for steps 2 and 3. Under these conditions, it was demonstrated that the recycling process under evaluation, using the Starlinger Decon technology, is able to ensure that the level of migration of potential unknown contaminants into food is below a conservatively modelled migration of 0.1 µg/kg food. Therefore, the Panel concluded that the recycled PET obtained from this process intended to be 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. Trays made of this PET are not intended to be used and should not to be used in microwave and conventional ovens.

Safety assessment of the process 'RecyPET Hungária', based on RecyPET Hungária technology, used to recycle post-consumer PET into food contact materials.

The EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids (CEP) assessed the safety of the recycling process RecyPET Hungária (EU register number RECYC0146). The input is hot caustic washed and dried poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) flakes originating from collected post-consumer PET containers, containing no more than 5% of PET from non-food applications. The flakes are dried and extruded. The output of the extrusion step is cut into pellets in an underwater chamber and then recrystallised. The crystallised pellets may then be fed into a solid-state polycondensation (SSP) reactor. The recycled plastic is intended for manufacture of bottles for soft drinks or water. The applicant provided a challenge test, but the flakes contaminated with the surrogates and the pellets obtained after extrusion and crystallisation were extracted with n-hexane without showing sufficient recovery. The Panel considered the extraction as unreliable and could therefore not conclude on the efficiency of the decontamination process. Furthermore, the flow charts provided by the applicant did not enable a clear identification of the steps relevant for the decontamination efficiency, and no sufficiently clear overview of the operational parameters of the steps of the process and the challenge test was provided. Without this information, a proper safety evaluation could not be performed. The Panel concluded that the process RecyPET Hungária is not sufficiently characterised and the applicant has not demonstrated in an adequately performed challenge test or by other appropriate evidence that the recycling process RecyPET Hungária is able to reduce contamination of the PET input to a concentration that does not pose a risk to human health.

Safety assessment of the process 'EstPak Plastik', based on Starlinger Decon technology, used to recycle post-consumer PET into food contact materials.

This scientific opinion of the EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids (CEF Panel) deals with the safety evaluation of the recycling process EstPak Plastik (EU register No RECYC150), which is based on the Starlinger Decon technology. The decontamination efficiency of the process was demonstrated by a challenge test. The input of this process is hot caustic washed and dried poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) flakes originating from collected post-consumer PET containers, mainly bottles, containing no more than 5% of PET from non-food consumer applications. In this technology, washed and dried PET flakes are preheated before being submitted to solid-state polycondensation (SSP) in a continuous reactor (one single reactor or several reactors in parallel) at high temperature under vacuum and gas flow. Having examined the challenge test provided, the Panel concluded that the preheating (step 2) and the decontamination in the continuous SSP reactor (step 3) are the critical steps that determine the decontamination efficiency of the process. The operating parameters that control the performance of the process are well defined and are temperature, pressure, residence time and gas flow for steps 2 and 3. Under these conditions, it was demonstrated that the recycling process under evaluation, using the Starlinger Decon technology, is able to ensure that the level of migration of potential unknown contaminants into food is below a conservatively modelled migration of 0.1 µg/kg food. Therefore, the Panel concluded that the recycled PET obtained from this process intended to be 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. Trays made of this PET are not intended to be used, and should not be used, in microwave and conventional ovens.

Safety assessment of the process 'Concept Plastic Packaging', based on Starlinger Decon technology, used to recycle post-consumer PET into food contact materials.

This scientific opinion of the EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids (CEF Panel) deals with the safety evaluation of the recycling process Concept Plastic Packaging (EU register No RECYC151), which is based on the Starlinger Decon technology. The decontamination efficiency of the process was demonstrated by a challenge test. The input of this process is hot caustic washed and dried poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) flakes originating from collected post-consumer PET containers, mainly bottles, containing no more than 5% of PET from non-food consumer applications. In this technology, washed and dried PET flakes are preheated before being submitted to solid-state polycondensation (SSP) in a continuous reactor (one single reactor or several reactors in parallel) at high temperature under vacuum and gas flow. Having examined the challenge test provided, the Panel concluded that the preheating (step 2) and the decontamination in the continuous SSP reactor (step 3) are the critical steps that determine the decontamination efficiency of the process. The operating parameters that control the performance of the process are well defined and are temperature, pressure, residence time and gas flow for steps 2 and 3. Under these conditions, it was demonstrated that the recycling process under evaluation, using the Starlinger Decon technology, is able to ensure that the level of migration of potential unknown contaminants into food is below a conservatively modelled migration of 0.1 µg/kg food. Therefore, the Panel concluded that the recycled PET obtained from this process intended to be 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. Trays made of this PET are not intended to be used, and should not be used, in microwave and conventional ovens.