South Korea Promulgates the Standards of Recycled Materials for Food Packages

After the implementation of Act on the Promotion of Saving and Recycling of Resources on December 25, 2019, South Korea strengthened the supervision of packaging to reduce the plastic waste. ^[1] This regulation affects the packaging of beverages, agricultural and aquatic products, cosmetics, shampoo for pets, etc. To specify the package requirements for the food industry, MFDS revised the Standards and Specifications of Apparatus, Containers, and Packages for Food ^[2] on May 29, 2020. This regulation came into force on the same day. The main amendments are:

1. The Addition of Standards for Recycled Materials

The standard of recycled synthetic resin is newly stipulated. It specifies that for food with multilayer packaging, the packages not in direct contact with food can be made from recycled synthetic resin materials. Note that no hazardous materials are permitted to be used in manufacturing. Additionally, the leftover scraps from the production process of apparatus, containers, and packages can be used as packaging materials.

2. The Subdivided General Manufacturing Standards

The enumerated General Manufacturing Standards in the previous version are subdivided into three parts, including: 

1. Materials Standards;

2. Manufacturing and Processing Standards;

3. Recycled Material Standards.

The Materials Standard also forbids the use of prohibited materials listed under the Persistent Organic Pollutants Control Act ^[3] as materials of apparatus, containers, and packages of food.

3. Revised Individual Standards

The requirements for the amount of the Phthalate, Bisphenol A, and other substances that can migrate from FCMs are detailed for each material type. The maximum migration amount cannot exceed 30 mg/L if not specified.

The total amount of volatilization of the rubber nipple should be less than 0.5%.