The artience Group, through its packaging solutions subsidiary Toyo Ink, and DIC Corporation have developed a common industry protocol that standardizes test procedures, evaluation criteria and reporting formats for deinking and debonding in the material recycling of flexible film packaging in Japan. The companies said it is the first such protocol in the industry. It is intended to give converters, brand owners and recyclers a shared, domestic basis for evaluating and comparing recyclability, and the companies said they aim to accelerate the circular use of flexible packaging and contribute to a circular economy.
The importance of reusing plastics as resources has grown in recent years because of fluctuating resource prices and rising geopolitical risks, with the Japanese government positioning the circular economy as a key growth strategy. In the packaging sector, demand is rising for designs that are easier to recycle and for wider use of high-quality recycled plastics.
Flexible packaging is used extensively in food, daily necessities and pharmaceuticals, and offers content protection, weight reduction and transport efficiency. However, it is made of multiple materials, such as films, printing inks and laminating adhesives, which makes deinking (removing printed ink) and debonding (separating layered films) critical for high-quality material recycling. In Japan, these evaluations were previously conducted using proprietary test conditions and criteria, making it difficult to compare results across companies or materials. According to the companies, this hampered recyclability assessment at the design stage and complicated information sharing across the local supply chain.
The protocol was developed jointly by the artience Group and DIC, both printing ink manufacturers, to address the specific needs of Japan’s recycling infrastructure. Drawing on their expertise in printing inks, laminating adhesives and recycling technologies, the companies established a standard with three core elements.
The first is test procedures, which clarify equipment, test conditions, material handling and operational steps to improve reproducibility in Japanese testing environments. The second is evaluation criteria, which set objective standards for assessing deinking and debonding efficiency and the quality of the resulting recycled plastic. The third is a reporting format, which standardizes test conditions and results into a unified format to ease information exchange among domestic stakeholders.
The companies said the protocol offers benefits across the supply chain. Converters can more easily select printing and processing conditions and materials that prioritize recyclability. Brand owners can choose highly recyclable packaging materials based on objective data. Recyclers can set processing conditions suited to material characteristics, which is expected to improve the quality of recycled plastic.
The artience Group and DIC plan to continue refining the accuracy and practicality of the protocol by incorporating insights from actual packaging materials and recycling processes in the Japanese market. The companies said they are committed to promoting a framework in which recyclability can be discussed and evaluated across the domestic supply chain, from design and manufacturing to collection and recycling. They have invited industry stakeholders in Japan to adopt the protocol, with the aim of establishing it as the standard for recyclability assessment in the flexible packaging sector.
Launch at Tokyo Pack 2026
The two companies will showcase the protocol at their respective stands during Tokyo Pack 2026, to be held at Tokyo Big Sight in Japan from October 14 to 16, 2026. Under the concept ‛ReLoop – Drawing the Future with Circulating Materials,’ the Toyo Ink (artience Group) stand (East Hall 2, Stand 2N10) will present solutions that promote resource circulation for vibrant packaging from two perspectives: sustainable solutions and color innovation.