Japan Announces Design Certification Criteria for beverage PET bottles

On July 24, 2025, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan jointly issued Joint Notification No. 1, announcing the "Design Certification Criteria for beverage PET bottles" The notification stipulates that the criteria will take effect six months after promulgation.

Certified products are incentivized through preferential treatment under the Green Purchasing Law and supported by recycling initiatives, thereby promoting resource circulation.

The criteria is based on three main pillars: "Component-Specific Requirements," "Container Weight Reduction," and "Mandatory Use of Recycled and Biomass Plastics."

Pillar 1: "Component-Specific Requirements" to Avoid Recycling Barriers

To maintain and improve the quality of recycling, strict requirements are imposed on the design of the "bottle body" and "label" of PET bottles.

• Bottle Body:

• In principle, coloring is prohibited, and the material must be limited to polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

• Direct printing on the bottle body is prohibited, except for essential markings such as expiration dates.

• Label:

• The use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which poses challenges in recycling processes, is prohibited.

• Labels must be designed to easily separate from the bottle body during the washing process, and printing ink must not transfer onto the bottle.

These requirements aim to ensure that collected PET bottles can be processed into high-quality recycled materials with minimal impurities.

Pillar 2: "Weight Standards" to Encourage Additional Weight Reduction

To reduce environmental impact, targets have been set to decrease the amount of plastic used in containers. Specific maximum allowable weight limits, determined by formulas, are established based on the type of container (e.g., for aseptic filling, heat resistance, or pressure resistance) and its capacity.

For example, in the case of "heat-resistant containers of 500ml or less," the maximum allowable weight (in grams) must be less than the value derived from the formula: "0.0164 × capacity (ml) + 16.8." This initiative is expected to further promote industry-wide weight reduction.

Pillar 3: Requirement for 15% or More Use of "Recycled and Biomass Plastics"

As a requirement to drive the transition to a circular economy, it is required that at least 15% of the total container weight must be composed of recycled plastics and biomass plastics.

This measure aims to reduce dependence on virgin plastics derived from fossil resources and actively utilize resources such as used PET bottles, contributing to the development of a circular economy.

The introduction of the new criteria marks a significant shift in container design within Japan's beverage industry, emphasizing corporate sustainability initiatives to an unprecedented degree.