Chinese recycled polymers producer Veolia Huafei has on 9 August received safety certification from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for its recycled post-consumer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to be used as food-grade material.
The panel concluded that 100pc of the recycled PET is safe when used in the production of packaging and articles that come into contact with food, including drinking water, and when stored for extended periods of time at room temperature or lower.
Veolia Huafei filed application documents in June 2022 and submitted additional data twice in December 2022 and April 2023 respectively, according to an EFSA publication. It is the second mainland Chinese company to get EFSA certification after Zhenjiang Ceville, which obtained the same certification this March.
Veolia, a major water, waste and energy management enterprise, expanded its recycling business in China by purchasing a 66pc stake in Zhejiang Huafei in 2019. It also expanded its PET flake and pellet production capacity from 30,000 t/yr to 100,000 t/yr in mid-2021. Veolia Huafei currently operates recycled PET production lines totalling 100,000 t/yr and a 50,000 t/yr recycled PE/polypropylene/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene unit in Huzhou, a city in east China.
