Chemco Group has secured approval from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to produce food-grade recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) resin for food-contact use under the 2018 Food Safety & Standards (Packaging) Regulations.
With this clearance, Chemco joins a limited number of companies in India permitted to make food-grade rPET resin for direct food-contact packaging.
The decision comes after the company recently started operations at its bottle-to-bottle recycling plant in Sanand, Gujarat, built with a Rs1.25bn ($13m) investment.
The site is designed to process more than one billion used PET bottles each year and turn them into food-grade recycled PET resin for food and beverage packaging.
The plant uses a Starlinger bottle-to-bottle recycling system, a technology used for food-contact recycling applications.
It added that the compliance structure includes quality, traceability and food safety systems, including FSSC 22000 certification, along with recycling process frameworks recognised by the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Food Safety Authority for food-contact recycled PET use.
Commenting on the development, Chemco Group director Vaibhav Saraogi said: "Receiving FSSAI authorisation for food-grade rPET is an important milestone not only for Chemco but also for the broader development of circular packaging infrastructure in India.
“Our investment in bottle-to-bottle recycling was made with a long-term view of supporting both sustainability and supply-chain reliability for brand owners. This approval reinforces our ability to offer food-grade recycled material that meets stringent safety and compliance expectations while supporting India's transition towards circular packaging."
