Municipal solid waste has recently become one of the severest environmental problems. This is because it is generated on a large scale and occupies large spaces for long periods resulting in a decrease in the useful life of landfills. Polymers comprise a large percentage of municipal solid waste and polymer packaging is responsible for the large mass and volume amount. Despite the consolidation of polymer recycling in Brazil, due to the promising and growing market, there are still restrictions concerning to its application for food contact due to eventual migration process that might occur from the recycled resin into the food. On the other hand, recent data of the sector indicates that food packaging market is responsible for the highest consumption of the produced amount of virgin polymers. Therefore the development and management of technologies that facilitate the returning of these materials to their original purpose are urgently needed. In general, this article focuses on the needs and limitations of the return process of the recycled polymer to the food contact package.
Recycling; polymer; packaging for food; municipal solid waste
