Page 55 - Plastics News - April 2026
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FEATURE NEWS
product categories. While cosmetics and coat- where circularity ambitions run highest.
ings draw the most attention, the rule also af-
fects polymer additives. A Patchwork Becomes a Strategic Risk
Across the Atlantic, the picture is no less com-
Pigments, fillers, and effect particles can shed,
abrade, or fragment during use and recycling. plex. In the United States, FDA regulations gov-
Regulators increasingly evaluate these materi- ern colorants for polymers in food contact ap-
als under REACH, even when designers never plications, supplemented by evolving Color
intended them to function as microplastics. Additive Inventories updated through the end of
2025.
Research in Polymers and Waste Management
shows how conventional carbon black disrupts Meanwhile, the Consumer Product Safety Com-
near-infrared sorting The same studies demon- mission continues to enforce strict limits on
heavy metals such as lead in surface coatings,
with implications for legacy pigments still used
in niche industrial applications. The result is a
patchwork: legally acceptable additives in one
jurisdiction may be commercially unusable in an-
other.
Suppliers have started to respond. UPM’s plans
to launch a bio-based, NIR-detectable black pig-
ment in late 2025. The product aims to combine
recyclability, regulatory compliance, and sustain-
Digital watermarking enables high-precision ability claims in one solution.
sorting of packaging waste, improving recycla-
bility across food and non-food plastic streams. These examples highlight a broader pressure.
Formulators must now validate additives across
strate how hyperspectral imaging, rare-earth ox- multiple regulatory systems without unified
ide markers, and taggant systems improve de- guidance. Each decision carries legal, operation-
tection. Yet these solutions add new substances al, and reputational risk and manufacturers must
to formulations, which raises further safety and respond earlier in the design process. They need
food-contact questions. to align material choice, regulatory compliance,
and recyclability from the start. The next phase
Industry initiatives such as HolyGrail 2.0 and guid- of plastics regulation will not hinge on resin bans
ance from the Association of Plastic Recyclers alone. It will hinge on the small substances that
promote design-for-sorting principles. Regula- give plastics their color, texture, and function.
tors, however, have not aligned chemical safety,
food contact, and microplastics frameworks for Source – Plastics Engineering
digital watermarks, tracers, or functional fillers.
This gap creates a compliance gray zone exactly
April 2026 PLASTICS NEWS 57
