Recycled Plastics in Food Packaging: Testing and Standards in India’s rPET Mandate
With India’s growing emphasis on sustainability, the use of recycled PET (rPET) in food and beverage packaging has become a national priority. As per recent government directives, beverage manufacturers are now required to incorporate at least 30% rPET in packaging materials, with plans to scale this up to 60% over the next four years. This shift is driving major developments in recycling infrastructure, polymer sourcing, and testing protocols.
The increasing use of rPET for food contact applications raises critical questions around safety, quality, and regulatory conformity. It is essential to monitor the presence of residual monomers, potential migrants, and other contaminants that may be introduced during the recycling process or from post-consumer sources.
This webinar will outline:
- The current regulatory framework for rPET in India, including key highlights from BIS draft standards, FSSAI packaging guidelines, and food-contact directives.
- Testing workflows and instrumentation used to evaluate recycled plastics for food-grade use, including:
- GC/MS for monitoring compounds like acetaldehyde, limonene, and benzene
- ICP-MS for migration testing and elemental impurities
- UHPLC or LC/MS for bisphenol detection and analysis
Who should attend:
- Polymer manufacturers and suppliers entering the rPET space
- Beverage and food packaging companies using recycled plastics
- Food brands evaluating rPET for primary packaging
- Testing laboratories involved in food-contact material analysis
Presenter: Dr. Tanweer Alam, Ph.D, FNADS (Additional Director & RO, Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India)
Dr. Tanweer Alam is Additional Director at the Indian Institute of Packaging, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. He chairs three sectional committees of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and serves as rapporteur to FSSAI on packaging regulations. He is a board member of the World Packaging Organisation (WPO) and the Asia Packaging Federation (APF) and has served as guest faculty at the University of Copenhagen under a European Union faculty exchange program.
Dr. Alam is Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Packaging Technology & Research (Springer) and holds editorial roles with multiple journals, including Packaging India, Journal of Postharvest Technology, and Asian Journal of Dairy and Food Research. His areas of work span food packaging, regulatory frameworks, sustainable materials, and package design. He has guided Ph.D. and postgraduate research, authored three books, published over 100 research papers, and organized several national and international conferences.
Presenter: Ms. Vijaya Jyothi (Product Specialist - Spectroscopy, Agilent Technologies India Pvt. Ltd.)
Vijaya Jyothi is a seasoned product specialist at Agilent Technologies. She manages the spectroscopy division, having extensive expertise in spectroscopy applications across diverse industries, offering deep insights and solutions tailored to varied analytical needs.
