LAHORE:Punjab Food Authority (PFA) Director General Raja Jahangir Anwar announced on Wednesday that a number of beverage companies would be selling their fizzy drinks in PET [polyethylene terephthalate] bottles, made from food-grade recycled plastic (rPET).
In this regard, beverage companies would initially recycle four per cent of plastic bottles of the total production, and the ratio would reach 50 per cent by 2030, he added.
Chairing a meeting of the PFA Scientific Panel at the Punjab Food Authority Headquarters here, the DG said that the purpose of the initiative was to reduce global warming and mitigate the pollution effects in the province. Members of the scientific panel reviewed technical aspects of the rPET use. He said the companies would conduct laboratory analysis of rPET bottles every three months and submit a quarterly report to the regulatory body, and ensure that it’s safe for human consumption and the environment.
The director general said that the facility to test rPET plastic would be introduced for companies at the Punjab Food Authority laboratory. Further, the PFA would provide all possible assistance to beverage companies to help overcome their difficulties in the rPET production process, he promised.
Raja Jahangir said that plastic pollution would be reduced with recycling of food-grade plastic, because millions of bottles were being used daily which were affecting environment. He said that recycling of rPET bottles would create a source to bring foreign investment to Pakistan.
He said that a further action plan would be prepared in the light of the recommendations of the scientific panel.