This scientific opinion of the EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids deals with the safety evaluation of the recycling process Coveris (EU register No RECYC0126), which is based on the same Starlinger Decon technology. The decontamination efficiency of the process was demonstrated using the same challenge test. The input of this process is washed and dried poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) flakes originating from collected post-consumer PET containers, mainly bottles, containing no more than 5 % of PET from non-food consumer applications. In this technology washed and dried PET flakes are pre-heated before being Solid State Polycondensed in a continuous reactor (SSP) at high temperature under vacuum and gas flow. Having examined the challenge test provided, the Panel concluded that the pre-heating (step 2) and the decontamination in the continuous SSP reactor (step 3) are the critical steps that determine the decontamination efficiency of the process. The operating parameters that control their performance are well defined and are temperature, pressure, residence time and gas flow for step 2 and 3.
