A Path to Resilience

RE-SAFE

Ensuring the Chemical Safety of Reusable Food Packaging for a Transparent Circular Economy

RE-SAFE

Lead Organization: University of Copenhagen

Project Period: August 2026 - December 2028

Pool: TRACE Pool 5

Project Status: New

Reusable packaging is a key strategy for advancing circular economy goals in the Danish and global food sector. When transitioning to a reuse system, factors such as costs, greenhouse gas emissions, and resource consumption are usually assessed. However, chemical safety of food containers is typically evaluated only when they are new, not across the entire lifetime of the product. This practice may create health risks, as repeated use can change material properties and increase the leaching of chemical and microplastics into the food.

Therefore, we will establish a PoC CE system investigating the chemical safety of reusable lunch containers in Copenhagen school canteens. A novel workflow for safety testing of plastic food containers will be developed, combining targeted and non‑targeted analysis of known and unknown chemicals, micro‑ and nanoplastics, and high‑throughput proxy measures.

Participating partners: University of Copenhagen, Technical University of Denmark, Københavns Kommune, Food Packaging Forum Foundation, New European Reuse Alliance

Funding call: Circular Solutions in the Food Industry

Project Leader

Selina Tisler

Mail: seti@plen.ku.dk

 

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