Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has published certification criteria for beverage bottles, cleaning product containers, and cosmetics packaging – intended to increase recycled content, reduce material consumption, and streamline recyclability.
As an extension of the country’s Design Guidelines for Plastic-Containing Products, the criteria will come into effect on 24th January 2026 and aspire to bolster Japan’s transition into a circular economy.
As explained by Global PCCS, compliant businesses must undergo an assessment and provide data to achieve certification. Once a product has passed, Japan’s Green Purchasing Law will then allow advertising, and potentially offer assistance for recycling facilities.
Beverage packaging
Various criteria apply to PET beverage bottles, depending on their application.
For aseptic uses, bottles must be made exclusively from PET with no added substances, but this does not apply if a bottle containing non-PET substances is considered safe, hygienic, and recyclable. Labels must not be made of PVC, nor are caps permitted to utilize PVC or Al.
Bottles for pressure-resistant uses must not be coloured, and the label must be separable from the bottle during the recycling process using techniques such as washing or air classification. The cap must be made from PE or PP with a specific gravity of less than 1.0 as the main raw material.
In heat and pressure-resistant cases, the bottle’s handle must be made of uncoloured PET, PE, or PP with a specific gravity of less than 1.0. Any printing ink used on the label must not adhere to the bottle, and if glass marble or packing is used, the label must clearly signpost the appropriate method of removal.
Finally, heat-resistant bottles must feature minimal printing, limited to minor labels like expiration dates, manufacturer-specific codes, and lot numbers.
Cleaning products
Elsewhere in the packaging industry, household cleaning products may meet the criteria if the main container can be reused and refilled with cleaning agents.
A container should not utilize polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene, other organic chlorine compounds, or aluminium foil; nor can it use ceramics, glass, or aerosols. Mixtures of materials like plastic, paper, or wood are also prohibited.
When the container is made solely from plastic, it must be limited to one type – PET, PP, PE, or PS. Any materials other than plastic must be separable by material, and the whole pack must fall below a set unit value corresponding to the type of cleaning agent.
The ratio of the total weight of pre-consumer recycled plastic, post-consumer recycled plastic, or biomass plastic must reach between 10% and 25% of the weight of the whole container, depending on the application.
Similar combinations of these rules apply to mono-material plastic films designed for refilling cleaning agents in the main container (in which case the ratio of the weight of the barrier layer must be 5% or less than the total weight of the container), as well as film-shaped containers made of different, laminated types of plastic films (for which the ratio of the total weight of recycled and biomass plastic to the weight of the container must reach 10% or more).
Cosmetics packaging
Packaging for household cosmetics like shampoo, hair rinse, body soap, and hand soap must also meet specific criteria. Refillable packs – minus their caps, dispensers, spouts, and other accessories – must be made exclusively of PET, PE, or PP in line with food and additive standards. The aforementioned components must be separable.
Containers made of PE or PP must be uncoloured or white, and their specific gravity per container must be less than 0.97 grams per cubic centimetre. PET packs must be uncoloured, but this standard does not apply to their caps, dispensers, spouts, etc.
In either case, the body of the pack may not be printed, unless laser printing is utilized.
Specific limits are also set on the amount of plastic used depending on the product’s volume, with the required amount of pre- or post-consumer recycled material reaching 60% in some contexts.
For a full rundown of the criteria’s specifications, please consult the published guidelines.
In other legislative news, India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change revisited its Plastic Waste Management Rules earlier this year. It now requires plastic packaging to provide on-pack information via an on-pack barcode, QR code, or unique number, and market operators must publicize their compliance or face sanctions.
The State of New York also sought to pass New York Senate Bill 1464, in which sellers or distributors of packaging would have been required to register with a packaging reduction organization and develop a plan to reduce and recycle their waste. Ultimately, it would not come to pass, but disagreements about the bill’s impact on communities of colour led to a wider conversation on the impacts of environmental racism.
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