Nextloop Americas received FDA approval for its food-grade recycled polypropylene, which can be used at 100% in direct food contact. The company's AI sorting technology processes five tons per hour and distinguishes food-grade from non-food-grade materials without manual labor.
- Nextloop Americas received an FDA Letter of No Objection for recycled polypropylene that meets food-contact safety requirements under Prenotification Consultation No. 3291
- The recycled PP can be used at 100% concentration across all food types and conditions, from high-temperature sterilization to frozen storage
- AI sorting technology processes approximately 5 tons per hour and replaces 70 manual workers with machine vision that learns to identify food-grade packaging by color, shape, and surface details
- Alcamare International Group became the first North American recycler to join the initiative, signaling momentum for commercial-scale adoption
- Commercial use of food-grade recycled PP is anticipated by early next year as the supply chain mobilizes around FDA approval
Nextloopp Americas, a recently launched initiative to advance food-grade recycled polypropylene through science, technology, and collaboration, has received a Letter of No Objection (LNO) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirming that its proprietary recycling process for recycled PP meets the requirements for direct food contact. The authorization, logged as Prenotification Consultation No. 3291, allows Nextloopp’s recycled PP to be used at levels up to 100% across all food types and under all Conditions of Use, from high-temperature sterilization to frozen storage.
“This marks a defining moment for food-grade recycled polypropylene,” says Professor Edward Kosior, founder and managing director of Nextek Ltd and founder and president of Nextloopp Americas. “It validates the scientific rigor of our technology and provides brand owners and converters with complete confidence to use Nextloopp rPP in direct food-contact packaging.”
The review process took about a year, with several revisions required. Says Kosior, “Once we got the right data set in, it probably took six weeks to get their final assessment.”
The FDA decision represents an important step for Nextloopp’s efforts to expand circular systems for PP packaging across the Americas. With regulatory approval secured, the initiative is preparing to accredit recyclers that meet its technical and quality standards. “That will allow them to supply Nextloopp-accredited polypropylene to brand owners for direct food contact,” explains Kosior.
In the near future, Nextloopp members will have the opportunity to visit AI sorting at collection and sorting supplier Tomra’s new R&D facility in Charlotte, N.C. “We’ve taught the machinery to distinguish between food-grade and non-food grade materials,” Kosior says. “We can sort at approximately five tons per hour. Doing that manually would take 70 people. We do it with no people, just artificial intelligence.”
The system learns by viewing thousands of examples of food-grade and non-food grade packaging, building a database of color, shape, and surface characteristics. It then identifies and ejects food-grade materials from mixed post-consumer streams. “It’s like teaching a human,” Kosior explains. “The camera remembers shape, color, and even fine details like ribs and dimples that are typical of food-grade trays.”
Nextloopp is also working with waste management companies to expand PP collection and with converters to begin production trials. “Now that we’ve got the FDA approval, everyone will say, ‘We’ve got the green light,’” Kosior says. “It should trigger the whole supply chain.”
As the project scales in the Americas, it continues to add new partners. Alcamare International Group, a Mexico-based recycler with operations in the U.S., has become the first North American recycler to join the initiative, a move that Kosior says “is not just symbolic, it’s catalytic.”
(l. to r.) Ruben Valdez, industrial director of Alcamare, and Edward Kosior, NextlooppNextloopp
Nextloopp Vice President Marcio Amazonas says the company’s participation demonstrates the initiative’s momentum. “Our aim is to give recyclers confidence—technical, regulatory, and commercial—to turn recycled PP back into food-contact packaging safely,” he says.
Ruben Valdez, industrial director of Alcamare, says the company expects significant opportunity from the partnership. “We look forward to a great collaboration with our new partners, with the expectation of expanding our capacity and reaching new markets for our products,” he says.
With FDA approval in place, AI sorting entering demonstration, and new regional partnerships underway, Nextloopp is positioning food-grade recycled PP for large-scale commercial adoption across the Americas, with Kosior anticipating the first commercial use of the material by early next year. PW
