FDA Confirms Food-Grade rHDPE and rPP Using Coperion Recycling Technology
Stuttgart, June 2026 — The path from plastic waste back to food packaging just became clearer. Coperion has received a Letter of No Objection from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirming that its recycling technology — the combination of twin-screw extruders and EcoFresh silo degassing — produces high-density polyethylene and polypropylene recyclates suitable for direct contact with food. The letter, granted in June 2026, marks the first time a complete decontamination system built around twin-screw extrusion and silo degassing has earned FDA clearance for food-grade recyclates.
For recyclers and brand owners, the implications are significant. The LNO means that rHDPE and rPP manufactured on Coperion systems can be used in new food packaging at up to 100 percent recycled content. This covers the full spectrum of food-contact applications, from packaging for frozen and pasteurized products to containers that undergo high-temperature sterilization. Milk jugs, juice bottles, yogurt cups, and vegetable trays can now complete a true bottle-to-bottle or tray-to-tray loop, re-entering the food supply chain as certified safe recyclate.
The breakthrough lies in how two proven technologies work in concert. Coperion’s co-rotating twin-screw extruders provide intense melt mixing, homogenization, and degassing. The EcoFresh silo degassing unit then delivers a second, highly efficient decontamination step, stripping out low-volatility migratory substances even at short residence times. In challenge tests, this combination achieved the decontamination performance the FDA requires for a Letter of No Objection.
Raw material for the food-grade rHDPE process comes from used HDPE beverage bottles and caps. The rPP stream draws from vegetable trays, yogurt containers, and similar packaging. Both material streams pass through Coperion K-Tron gravimetric feeders into the extruder, where they are melted, mixed, homogenized, and degassed. After melt filtration and pelletizing, the recompounds undergo the EcoFresh silo degassing step — a newly developed, standardized unit that provides the final decontamination polish.
The FDA’s clearance was backed by extensive testing at Coperion’s Recycling Innovation Center, where both the extruder and EcoFresh systems are available for trials with original material streams. Together with Herbold Meckesheim’s test center for grinding and cleaning, Coperion can now reproduce the entire recycling chain — from post-consumer waste to food-grade pellet — in its own facilities.
“This Letter of No Objection means that rHDPE and rPP manufactured with our technologies can be used for new food packaging in proportions up to 100 percent,” said Stefan Lachenmayer, Global Commercial Director Recycling at Coperion. “As a result, we provide recyclers the assurance that our energy-efficient mechanical recycling process manufactures high-quality recyclate for use cases A through H — including packaging for high-temperature, heat-sterilized, pasteurized, or frozen products.”
The system covers capacities from small throughputs up to 6,000 kilograms per hour, making it accessible to both mid-sized recyclers and large-scale operations. With the EcoFresh unit now standardized, the second decontamination step is no longer a custom engineering project but a plug-and-play addition to the recycling line.
For the circular economy, the FDA’s decision is a milestone. It validates mechanical recycling as a viable route to food-grade polyolefins — not just in theory, but with a regulator’s stamp of approval. As brands face mounting pressure to incorporate recycled content into food packaging, Coperion’s cleared technology offers a concrete, scalable pathway.
Sources:
- Coperion, “FDA confirms: Food-Grade rHDPE and rPP using Coperion Recycling Technology,” press release, June 18, 2026. https://www.coperion.com/en/news-media/newsroom/2026/fda-for-rhdpe-rpp
- Coperion, “Coperion Recycling FDA for rHDPE rPP” (PDF/Word downloads). https://www.coperion.com/en/news-media/newsroom/2026/fda-for-rhdpe-rpp