There are growing concerns that the Green Dot Symbol is having a negative impact on the level of recycling taking place and the amount of recyclable contamination in the UK.
Although a large proportion of the public may think the Green Dot refers to the packaging of a product being recyclable. However – this is not the case. PRO Europe, who are the general licensor of the Green Dot trademark for Europe, state that ‘The Green Dot is the financing symbol for the organisation of recovery, sorting and recycling of sales packaging. When you see the Green Dot on packaging it means that for such packaging, a financial contribution has been paid to a qualified national packaging recovery organisation.’ Therefore, the Green Dot symbol only means the company displaying the Green Dot logo has made a financial contribution towards recycling efforts.
A recent study undertaken by Recycling of Used Plastics Limited (RECOUP) in association with Marks & Spencer and Plastics Europe has found that the general public are largely confused by the meaning of the Green Dot Symbol. The project was in the form of an observational study to understand what the barriers and behaviours are to recycling plastic packaging by the general public.
The study found that on-pack recycling labels containing recycling instructions which were easily visible on the front of packaging aided in the recycling of plastics packaging as the general public frequently followed these instructions and were not as confused by the additional symbols on the packaging.
Studies such as these are important as DEFRA in their latest publication of UK Statistics on Waste state the following – ‘The UK recycling rate for Waste from Households (WfH; including IBA metal) was 45.7% in 2017, increasing from 45.2% in 2016. There is an EU target for the UK to recycle at least 50% of household waste by 2020.’ As the UK has plateaued at this level for recent years, it is therefore important to research the causes for this in order for recycling levels of household waste can continue to rise.
For further information please visit https://www.britishplastics.co.uk/News/green-dot-symbol-adds-to-consumer-confusion-finds-recoup-stu/
Previous blogs by WRM on recycling and plastic waste:
