Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/1616 on recycled plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foods
Updated on 14.07.2025
Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/1616 sets strict safety and quality requirements for recycled plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food. It aims to ensure consumer protection by regulating recycling processes, monitoring contaminants, and establishing clear compliance rules for food packaging and other plastic products.
Key objectives and (or) targets related to cities & regions
The key objectives for Member States focus on ensuring the safety and efficiency of recycled plastic materials intended for food contact.
These objectives include establishing clear rules for recycling technologies and processes (Article 3), setting strict decontamination requirements to eliminate contaminants from plastic waste (Article 7), ensuring compliance with food safety regulations, and implementing traceability and labelling requirements (Article 5). Member States must also oversee the authorization and monitoring of recycling processes (Articles 17-19) and maintain a Union register of recyclers, recycling processes, and facilities (Article 24).
These objectives impact cities and regions, as they must supervise local collection and waste management systems that comply with the regulation’s requirements (Article 6), ensure that decontamination facilities meet safety standards (Article 7), and support recycling schemes that promote circularity and minimize contamination (Article 9). By aligning local waste collection, processing infrastructure, and compliance mechanisms with these objectives, cities and regions play a role in achieving the broader EU goals of increased plastic recycling and food safety.
Examples of how it was adopted/transposed by Member States
France updated its national legislation through the Decree of 23 April 2024, which amended Article R412-38 of the Consumer Code1. This decree aligns French law with the EU regulation, replacing references to the repealed Regulation (EC) No 282/2008 with those of Regulation (EU) 2022/1616.
The new provisions include in particular requirements for: recycled plastic materials and articles; documentation and labelling; new recycling technologies; recycling facilities using new technology; monitoring and reporting of contamination levels; the authorization of a recycling process; the compliance check summary sheet and the verification of the operation of a decontamination installation; the declaration of conformity. More information can be found here.
Key dates
- Date of document: 15/09/2022; Date of adoption
- Date of effect: 10/10/2022; Entry into force Date pub. +20 See Art 33
- Date of effect: 10/10/2024; Application Partial application See Art 33
- Deadline: 10/12/2022; See Art 31.4
- Deadline: 10/04/2023; See Art 31.5
- Deadline: 10/06/2023; See Art 31.4
- Deadline: 10/07/2023; See Art 31.3
- Date of end of validity: No end date
e.g. commercial, residential, service, industrial
