The China Development Research Foundation held a symposium on Primary Recycling of Plastic Packaging for Food Contact
On September 6, 2022, the CDRF held a symposium on Primary Recycling of Plastic Packaging for Food Contact. Focusing on the application challenges, practical progress, policy dynamics and solutions of plastic packaging for food contact, the conference invited government officials, experts and scholars, industry associations and enterprise representatives to carry out exchanges and discussions jointly.
China is the world's largest producer and consumer of plastics. In 2020, the country's total consumption of food-grade polyester bottles reached 9.51 million tons, more than 75% of which were used for food packagings such as water and beverages. Currently, the plastic packaging for food contact in China cannot use recycled plastic as raw materials, but all the original materials are extracted from petroleum, which consumes more than 50 million tons of oil annually. The full realisation of the original recycling of plastic packaging for food contact can not only save tens of millions of tons of petroleum raw materials but also reduce more than 10 million tons of carbon emissions, which is of great significance for promoting the synergistic effect of plastic packaging pollution reduction and carbon reduction, and building a resource-recycling society.
The seminar was presided over by Cheng Huiqiang, the Deputy Secretary-General of the CDRF. Fang Jin, the Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the CDRF delivered a speech. Business representatives came from Nestle Group, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Tianjin Insun, Zhenjiang Xavier and Veolia (China), and they shared the challenges encountered in the application practice and the positive progress made in the production practice; Experts from the State Key Laboratory of Food Contact Materials Testing (Guangdong), China Association of Renewable Resources and Recycling, Plastic Recycling Branch of China Synthetic Resin Association, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Danone, TOMRA and Pepsi discussed the development prospects and paths of plastic packaging for food contact. Government officials, experts and scholars from the National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, the Solid Waste Technology Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the Macro Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission put forward countermeasures and suggestions for the development of the industry from the perspective of national policies. More than 40 representatives from different organisations participated in the online and offline seminars.
