There are two clear trends in the food industry: the demand for convenience foods and the push for increased packaging sustainability. While take-out meals require disposable food contact materials (FCM) the packaging industry is experimenting with sustainable alternative-to-plastic solutions.

A 2019 Spanish investigation detected endocrine disruptors in the body of every participant studied. However, disposable FCM’s contribution to the population's exposure to harmful chemicals is still unclear, and a risk assessment is necessary.

The 24-month SAFE-GREENPACK coordinated by the UNIVERSIDAD DE ZARAGOZA project and supported financially with € 194 074,56 by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) aims to contribute to filling this gap. With a growing fast-food market, Spain will serve as a proof of concept for evaluating the food safety of alternatives to disposable plastics.

Time span of the project 

Start Date: 14 October 2025

End date: 13 October 2027

Key outcomes

• Comprehensive market analysis of alternative, sustainable food contact materials (FCMs) in Spain to map the current landscape of “green” disposable packaging solutions.
• Optimization of analytical workflows to detect and quantify potential chemical contaminants in these materials, including untargeted screening followed by result prioritisation and quantification.
• Assessment of human and environmental risk, culminating in a risk assessment that identifies material safety priorities and informs policy action

Funding source:

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant agreement ID: 101204871.