Additional output from polypropylene recycler PureCycle Technologies Inc. now can be used for food-contact applications.
The Orlando, Fla.-based company has received a Letter of No Objection, or LNO, from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that allows the same conditions of use for PureCycle's branded PureFive recycled resin as virgin PP.
The new LNO expands a previous LNO that allowed PureCycle to use recycled polypropylene "collected at stadiums and other point sources" for food-grade applications.
"This is another big step for our company and will allow PureCycle to expand our impact and further support brand owners and processors across the globe," CEO Dustin Olson said in a statement. "Many of our partners have been waiting for this news and we are excited to work with them to approve this product for their food packaging."
FDA does not explicitly provide approval for recycled resin use in food packaging. Instead, the agency provides LNOs that indicate it does not object to such a use. Food-application LNOs are key for many recyclers' ability to market their resin to the vast food market.
PureCycle uses a solvent-based technology to reprocess used PP into what the company calls virgin-like resin. The process, licensed from Procter & Gamble Co, uses an alkane solvent under pressure at the company's facility in Ironton, Ohio.