Japanese printing ink manufacturers DIC Corporation and artience have introduced what they describe as an inaugural “common industry protocol” governing the material recovery of flexible film packaging.
The artience Group is working via its packaging subsidiary Toyo Ink.
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The technical guidelines standardise testing stages, evaluation parameters, and reporting structures for deinking and debonding processes within Japan.
The system provides domestic converters, consumer brand owners, and recycling facilities with identical benchmarks to evaluate and contrast the recyclability of film packaging.
Configured to align with Japan’s recycling infrastructure, the methodology merges technical knowledge across printing inks, laminating adhesives, and reclaiming systems.
The framework contains three functional sections: experimental instructions, evaluation metrics, and documentation formatting.
The instructional section defines laboratory equipment, operational settings, material preparation, and handling measures to secure repeatable outcomes across domestic test sites.
The evaluation portion provides objective metrics to measure the removal efficiency of inks and laminating adhesives alongside the properties of the resulting reprocessed resin.
The reporting section consolidates testing criteria and outcome data into a single layout to simplify technical exchange among local market participants.
Under the framework, converters can identify printing settings, processing variables, and raw materials that support recyclability.
Brand owners obtain verified technical findings to guide the selection of recyclable container formats, while recycling plant operators can adjust processing equipment to match specific material inputs, supporting the quality of recovered resin.
Both businesses plan to adjust the protocol over time using operational data gathered from Japanese packaging formats and commercial reprocessing streams.
The developers have invited domestic industry participants to implement the guidelines to establish the methodology as the standard assessment framework for the flexible packaging sector.
