UK plans banning plastic straws and cotton buds; New York governor proposes statewide ban on plastic bags, with exemptions
April 26, 2018
Use of omics in risk assessment
EFSA colloquium addresses use of omics in risk assessment of biological and chemical hazards in the food chain; omics approaches promising but further improvements needed to enable broader application
April 26, 2018
BfR: 19th Meeting on consumer goods and FCMs
German Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) publishes minutes of advisory committee meeting discussing European and German legislation on FCMs, methods for the evaluation of paper and board, novel substances for food contact
April 26, 2018
Round table discussion on food packaging in the circular economy
EU Parliament holds meeting on best practices, health and environmental impact, challenges and opportunities of food packaging systems
April 20, 2018
Environmental risk assessment across fields
Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) hold joint symposium on environmental risk assessment, see ‘urgent need for harmonization of environmental risk assessment in different scientific fields’
April 20, 2018
ECHA to look at chemical groups
European Chemicals Agency publishes 2017 report on implementing the SVHC Roadmap; 750 substances of potential concern under scrutiny currently; structurally similar substances to be assessed as groups
April 19, 2018
Efficiency of ‘PET-eating’ enzyme can be improved
Scientists modify PET-degrading bacterial enzyme to make it more efficient; enzyme also supports PEF degradation; further improvement required to allow industrial application in plastics recycling
April 19, 2018
EU Parliament approves new waste policy
EU Parliament votes in favor of waste legislation package; 2030 recycling targets set at 60% for municipal waste and 70% for packaging; manufacturers to make information on SVHC content in products available to public
April 17, 2018
Deadline for Indian PET bottle ban extended
Consumers and retailers in Indian state Maharashtra must dispose of banned plastic items such as PET bottles smaller than 0.5 L until June 23, 2018
April 17, 2018
Cautious use of recycled plastics in food packaging
EU plastics strategy promotes using recycled plastics in food packaging, however food safety needs to be guaranteed, Euractiv article illustrates
