The guideline for the use of logos and icons is intended to contribute to more transparency and uniformity.

According to Forum Rezyklat, the aim of the guide for the use of logos and icons is to inform consumers in a transparent, uniform and comprehensible manner and thus ultimately to further strengthen the cycle of packaging. Meaningful labelling of packaging should inform consumers, for example, whether the packaging is recyclable, how much recyclate was used in its production and how it is best disposed of or separated. The guidelines of the Forum Rezyklat are intended to show which criteria manufacturers should apply when selecting the numerous available logos, icons and symbols. The main criteria are comprehensibility, reliability, general accessibility, transparency and practical use of the symbols. In this way, the Forum Rezyklat wants to provide orientation for the use of logos, icons and symbols to participants in the packaging value chain, interested companies and political actors. This improved transparency is intended to lead to harmonised and, as far as possible, uniform communication to end consumers. For the development of the guide, according to the information provided, in the first half of 2022 the currently available and used labelling tools were first screened according to topics. Subsequently, the authors of the guide developed various generally applicable as well as topic-specific criteria that they consider decisive for a successful communication of the topics by means of packaging logos and icons. The collected logos were then evaluated by the members of the Forum Rezyklat on the basis of these criteria. According to its own information, the Forum Rezyklat is an alliance along the entire plastics value chain with more than 60 members consisting of traders, product and packaging manufacturers, dual systems, disposal and recycling companies as well as representatives from science and politics. On the background to the development of the guide, the Forum Rezyklat explains that binding legal requirements for the labelling of packaging with logos, icons and symbols are to be expected and refers to the "recycling label" listed by the German government in the coalition agreement as well as the revisions of the EU Waste Framework Directive and the EU Packaging Directive.

 

Further information: Download "Allgemeine Empfehlungen zu Logos/Icons/Symbolen auf Verpackungen"

 

Sources:

•     recyclingmagazin.de (22.8.2022)
•     recyclingportal.eu (23.8.2022)
•     Photo: © Initiative "Mülltrennung wirkt"/Marcella Merk