artience and DIC Establish Industry-First Common Protocol for Evaluating Film Packaging Recyclability in Japan

artience group TOYO INK CO., LTD. (President and Representative Director Hideki Yasuda, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, hereinafter "artience group") and DIC Corporation (President and Representative Director Operating Officers Takashi Ikeda, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, hereinafter "DIC") have established the industry's first "Industry Common Protocol" that standardizes testing procedures, evaluation criteria, and reporting formats to evaluate deinking and peelability in material recycling of film packaging (flexible packaging) using common standards. Through this protocol, an environment will be established where all stakeholders in the domestic supply chain—including converters, brand owners, and recyclers—can evaluate and compare recycling suitability based on common standards, promoting the establishment of a common foundation for recycling suitability assessment in the flexible packaging sector. Both companies will contribute to expanding the circular use of flexible packaging and realizing a circular economy.

Background

In recent years, against the backdrop of fluctuations in resource prices and rising geopolitical risks, the Japanese government has promoted the circular economy as part of its growth strategy, highlighting the growing importance of reusing used plastics as resources. In the container and packaging sector, there is a growing demand for product design that is easy to recycle and the expansion of high-quality recycled plastics.
Flexible packaging, used in a wide range of fields such as food, daily necessities, and pharmaceuticals, offers excellent functions such as protecting contents, reducing weight, and improving transportation efficiency. However, to achieve different functions for each application, it is made from multiple materials such as film, printing inks, and laminating adhesives. To recycle such flexible packaging as high-quality recycled plastic after use, the process of "deinking," which removes printed ink, and "de-stripping," which separates overlapping films, are important. However, until now, each company has conducted evaluation of deinking and peelability using its own testing conditions and criteria, making it difficult to compare results across different companies and materials. Additionally, evaluation items and reporting formats have not been standardized, which has been a challenge in examining recyclability during the packaging design stage and promoting information sharing among stakeholders. These issues are difficult to solve by individual companies alone, and it is necessary to establish an evaluation platform that can be utilized across the entire supply chain.

Contents of the Common Industry Protocol

This protocol was formulated by artience group and DIC, as leading companies in the printing inks industry, to address the common challenge of promoting resource circulation. They collaborated beyond the framework of competition and pooled their expertise in printing inks, laminating adhesives, and recycling technologies. This protocol is designed to evaluate deinking and peelability in material recycling of flexible packaging using common criteria and consists of the following three elements.

1. Examination procedure
   Clarify the equipment used, test conditions, material handling, and operating procedures to improve test reproducibility.
2. Evaluation Criteria
   We establish criteria to evaluate the deinking and peeling status as well as the quality of the obtained recycled plastic, enabling objective evaluation.
3. Report format
   Exam conditions and results are organized in a unified format, enabling smooth information sharing and comparison of results among stakeholders.

By utilizing this protocol, it becomes possible to evaluate deinking and peelability using common standards even for different companies and materials, and compare the results. This is expected to provide the following benefits to all stakeholders in the supply chain:

• Converter (manufacturer responsible for printing and processing packaging materials): This makes it easier to select printing and processing conditions and materials that consider recyclability.
• Brand owners (manufacturers of food and daily necessities): It becomes easier to select packaging materials with high recyclability based on objective data.
• Recyclers (Recycling Businesses): Enables the setting of appropriate treatment conditions according to material properties and helps improve the quality of recycled plastics.

Future prospects

artience group and DIC will continuously reflect insights gained from actual packaging materials and recycling processes to enhance the accuracy and practicality of this protocol, while promoting the creation of a system that enables discussions and evaluation of recyclability throughout the entire supply chain—from product design through manufacturing, collection, and recycling.
Both companies are calling on a wide range of stakeholders across the domestic supply chain—including converters, brand owners, and recyclers—to expand the use of this protocol, aiming to establish it as a common foundation for recycling suitability assessments in the flexible packaging sector, and to expand cross-industry initiatives related to circular use of flexible packaging.

Exhibition schedule

Initiatives related to this protocol will be showcased at the booths of artience group and DIC at "TOKYO PACK 2026," held at Tokyo Big Sight from Wednesday, October 14 ~ Friday, October 16, 2026. This time, artience group will exhibit solutions that promote resource circulation through colorful packaging from two perspectives: "ReLoop ™ ~Drawing the Future with Surrounding Materials~," aiming to realize a sustainable society through two perspectives: "Sustainable Solution" and "Color Innovation."
We introduce our exhibits on the TOKYO PACK special page on our website. From Wednesday, October 14, detailed materials on the exhibited products will also be available, so please make use of them.

Exhibition Overview

###