121D V2 Criteria

Eco Mark Product Category No.121“Returnable Containers / Packaging Materials Version2.4” Certification Criteria

Category D

Wood or bamboo containers and packaging materials
Japan Environment Association

Eco Mark Office
1. Purpose of Establishing Criteria
Omitted.
2. Applicable Scope• Wood or bamboo containers and packaging materials,
that use wood and bamboo not less than 70% in weight to the whole product as amajor material
3. Terminology

Omitted.
4. Certification Criteria and Certification Procedure
To show conformance to the individual criteria, the Applicant shall submit therespective Attached Certificate forms duly filled in.
In the event re-examination under the present Certification Criteria is sought for aproduct that is already certified in the Product Category 121 “Returnable Containers andPackaging Materials (no version),” the certifications procedures 4-1. (2), (3), (5) and (6)may be substituted by filling in necessary items on the Attached Certificate form anddeclaring further therein that no alternations have been made to the product alreadycertified.
4-1. Environmental Criteria and Certification Procedure(1) An average product shall be repeatedly used at least five times.
[Certification Procedure] * Certifier: Applicant
The Applicant shall submit a document indicating that the actual average numberof recycling uses of a product is five times or more (for new products, the data forcomparable products may be submitted instead).
(2) The product shall be designed so as to be used repeatedly.

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121D V2 Criteria[Certification Procedure] Certifier: Applicant or a third party body
The Applicant shall submit a certificate by a third party or company design
documents describing:
1. Strength
2. Cleaning characteristics
3. Label’s adhesive or removable characteristics (for those products requiring
attachment or removal of a label after each reuse)(3) A product collecting (recycling) system shall be established, and this fact shall bemade known by marking or information disclosure.
[Certification Procedure] Certifier: Applicant
The Applicant shall submit the following:
1. A document describing a system or a product collecting route to make a productreturnable
2. A document or photos illustrating a container (if any) in which products are putfor transportation
3. Marking or information disclosure stating that a product is reusable(4) In manufacturing the applied product, related environmental laws and regulations
and pollution control agreement (hereinafter referred to as the “Environmental Laws,etc.”) must be followed with respect to air pollution, water contamination, noise,
offensive odor, and emission of hazardous substances in the area where the plant
performing the final manufacturing process is located.
In addition, the state of compliance with the Environmental Laws, etc. for the past five
years from the date of application (whether there is any violation) must be reported. If
there is any violation, proper remedies and preventive measures shall have been
already taken, and the related Environmental Laws, etc. must thereafter be followed
appropriately.
[Certification Procedure] Certifier: Final product manufacturer
With respect to the compliance with the Environmental Laws, etc. in the area
where the plant performing the final manufacturing process is located, a certificate
issued by the representative of the business of manufacturing the applied productor the relevant plant manager (entry or attachment of a list of names of theEnvironmental Laws, etc.) must be submitted.
In addition, the applicants shall report whether there is any violation in the past
five years, including a violation subject to administrative punishment oradministrative guidance, and if there is, the following documents in a and b must be(Criteria) 2/6

121D V2 Criteria

submitted:
a. With respect to the fact of violation, guidance documents from administrative
agencies (including order of correction and warning) and copies of written
answers (including those reporting causes and results of correction) to such
documents (clearly indicating a series of communication);b. Following materials (copies of recording documents, etc.) concerning themanagement system for compliance with the Environmental Laws, etc. in 1)-5):
1) List of the Environmental Laws, etc. related to the area where the plant islocated;
2) Implementation system (organizational chart with roles, etc.);
3) Bylaws stipulating retention of recording documents;
4) Recurrence prevention measures (future preventive measures);5) State of implementation based on recurrence prevention measures (result ofchecking of the state of compliance, including the result of onsite inspection).
(5) Of printing ink used on a product (product labels, etc.), substances restricted by theJapan Printing Ink Maker's Association's "Self-imposed Controls on Printing Ink for
Food Packaging Materials (Negative List Control)" shall not be added as components.
[Certification Procedure] Certifier: Applicant
The Applicant shall state in the Attached Certificate that the product complies with
Negative List regulations.
(6) The amount of the material, such as throw-away attachments, of products which isdiscarded during distribution or after use shall be smaller than or equal to that ofcomparable one-way containers and packaging materials. However, this requirementdoes not apply to the cases that neither comparable one-way containers nor packaging
materials are available.
[Certification Procedure] Certifier: Applicant
A document prepared by the applicant shall be submitted that explains thegeneration of label, cap and other wastes during the phases of distribution, use andconsumption is less than or equivalent to that generated by comparable one-way
containers or packaging materials.
(7) With respect to products for which adhesives or additives are used or decorative
finishing is made, the formulation ingredients and their respective weight percentagesshall be reported.

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121D V2 Criteria[Certification Procedure] Certifier: Applicant and raw material supplier
The formulation ingredients shall be specified in the attachment. Furthermore,
addition or not of the substances in question shall be stated in the attachment.
(8) Products do not contain preservatives (termicides, pesticedes and fungicides) as
formulation ingredients.
[Certification Procedure] Certifier: Applicant
Addition of the chemical substance, whether it is used or not, shall be indicated on
the attached certificate.
(9) The product shall not use plastics containing halogens in its polymer backbone. If
any such plastic is used, 70% or more of it shall be material-recycled.
[Certification Procedure] Certifier: Applicant
The following shall be stated in the attachment:
1. Use or non-use of plastic materials in the product2. In the event of affirmative answer to 1 above, use or not of plastics containing
halogens in its polymer backbone
3. If the answer to 2 above is affirmative, a document assuring proper material
recycling after disposal shall be submitted. The Secretariat reserves the right tocollect reports on the recycling ratio (or conduct an audit) after conclusion of thelicense agreement, and the applicant hereby agrees to cooperate for these purposes.

4-2.

Quality Criteria and Certification Procedure(10) The quality of the product shall conform to the following conditions (a) to (c). In casethat the product functions as part of equipment such as a printer, the Applicant shallcertify the fact that repeated use of the product would not disrupt its performance by
the following conditions (a) to (c).
(a) For the product which is applicable to quality criteria such as JIS, it shall conformto the quality criteria.
(b) For the product which is not applicable to (a) on the above, it shall conform to thevoluntary quality standards of the industry.
(c) For the product which is not applicable to (a) or (b) on the above, there shall be
in-house quality standards for quality management.
[Certification Procedure] Certifier: Third party testing body or Applicant
The Applicant shall submit test results regarding quality criteria of the productbased on the applicable laws, JIS standards, voluntary standards, etc. or a copy of a(Criteria) 4/6

121D V2 Criteria

certification issued by a JIS certified plant.

5. Product Classification, Indication and Others(1) Product shall be applied by a returnable business operator.
(2) An application shall be made by applicable scope of this product category, bystructured returnable system unit, or by brand name (including structured returnablesystem name). Classification by size or color is not performed.
(3) In principle, the Eco Mark shall be indicated on the product, etc. The licensees of Eco
Mark Utilization Contract who own the Eco Mark products shall also be allowed to use
the indication and the certification number as before.

(Note for the indication)*For indicating the logo, Eco Mark certification number (eight-digit number) or thename of the licensee using the logo shall be appeared.
* Such expression as “Eco Mark product” can be used following the 2.(2) of the Guide to
Eco Mark Usage.
“Eco Mark product”, “#Eco Mark”, “www.ecomark.jp”, “Eco Mark Certificate”*In accordance with “Environmental Labeling Guidelines” of the Ministry of theEnvironment of Japan, etc., the environmental claims of certified products may beindicated in association with Eco Mark
(https://www.env.go.jp/policy/hozen/green/ecolabel/guideline/)*The Guide to Eco Mark Usage shall be followed for any cases not listed above.
(https://www.ecomark.jp/office/guideline/guide/)

July 2, 2007:

Established (Version 2.0)

August 21, 2008:

Revised (4-1(4) Version2.1)

March 1,2011

Revised (5 Version2.2)

July 13,2012

Revised (5 Version2.3)

March 15, 2016

Extension of Expiration(Criteria) 5/6

121D V2 Criteria

April 1,2019Revised (5. (3) Mark indication)

March 1, 2021

Extension of Expiration

February 1, 2023

Revised (4-1.(9), Version2.4)

June 30, 2027

Expiration date

The Certification Criteria for the Product Category will be revised when necessary.

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