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Difficult to find in the multitude of ecological logos on most packaging. Round, square or triangular, recycling labels do not always mean what you think. To make no mistake and find out what you buy, follow the guide.
► GREEN POINT
Beware, deceptive logo! It is almost everywhere, but the Green Dot does not indicate that the packaging is recyclable. Its presence simply means that the manufacturer pays a contribution to Citeo, a private company specialized in the recycling of packaging whose activity is regulated by a State approval. For drugs, the tax is paid to another company, Cyclamed. An official decree published at the end of 2016 no longer makes the Green Dot mandatory. It should be gradually replaced by the Triman logo.
► TRIMAN
This logo appeared in 2015 is directly from the commitment 255 Grenelle of the Environment to harmonize the signage and sorting instructions . Compulsory on all packaging and recyclable products (except glass), Triman means that the packaging in which it appears is valuable because it can be sorted for recycling. If the logo is not printed on the packaging, it may still appear on the label (for clothing) or on the package leaflet (for household appliances).
► MÖBIUS TAPE
A universal symbol of recycling , it was adopted in April 1970 on the occasion of the first "Earth Day". This representation of the infinite inspired by the work of the German mathematician August Ferdinand Möbius means that the packaging on which it appears is potentially recyclable. In no way does it suggest that the product is recycled or will be recycled. But when a percentage appears in the middle of the three arrows, it indicates only the proportion of recycled materials contained in the product. For example, a coat of which 30% comes from recycled textiles does not mean that the coat in question is recyclable. Finally, if the international standard ISO 14021 defines good practices for the use of the logo, its use remains under the responsibility of the manufacturer and is not in itself controlled by any authority.
► TIDY MAN
This pictogram is literally a fake friend because it does not refer to sorting or recycling. And for good reason, its only mission is to encourage to throw a packaging in a trash rather than in the nature. The logo that shows a man throwing a paper in the trash was originally the official emblem of the 2009 UK-funded " Keep Britain Tidy " clean-up campaign.
► BARREL GARBAGE
This logo means that the product or packaging where it is located should not be thrown in a conventional garbage can. You have to either bring it to a selective collection point or put it back in the service of the bulky objects of your municipality. The crossed-out bin is present on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), such as batteries, light bulbs, refrigerators, computers, washing machines, etc.
► RECYCLABLE GLASS
The logo of a bottle encircled by two arrows indicates that the glass is recyclable and that it must be placed in a container provided for this purpose. Otherwise, if the glass is thrown into a conventional bin, it will not be recycled. Bottles, jars or jars, glass containers can be recycled to infinity.
► RECYCLABLE STEEL
This pictogram represents a magnet and means that the product in which it appears contains recyclable steel. Like glass, steel is 100% recyclable and infinite. But to be sure that the product where it appears will be recycled, it should be sorted to ensure that it is directed to the right path. It's the same for aluminum with the logo "aluminum" surrounded by two arrows.
► PETE, HDPE, PVC, PP, etc.
These logos are printed on plastic packaging. Three arrows surrounding a number and overhanging the abbreviation of the type of plastic used. The pictograms do not mean at all that the plastic used by the manufacturer is recyclable. There are 7 logos (numbered from 1 to 7) which correspond to the 7 abbreviations designating the different families of plastics. But only two types of plastic are actually recycled, PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) used for transparent bottles and cans, and HDPE for opaque containers. Provided they are thrown in a yellow bin. It is up to everyone to favor plastic packaging with either the PET logo or HDPE.
► APUR
The logo of the Apur (Association of producers and users of recycled paper and cardboard) symbolized by a green sheet indicates the percentage of recycled fibers used in the manufacture of paper or packaging. This logo only concerns France, each country having its own.
► PEFC and FSC
These international logos are environmental certifications whose name is that of the organization in charge of issuing it. They indicate that the paper or cardboard on which they appear comes from sustainably managed forests.
► EUROPEAN ECOLABEL
Appeared in 1992, but truly applicable since February 2010, the European Ecolabel is the only European official eco-label that can be used in all EU member states . In France, the Ministry of the Environment has entrusted French policy support for the deployment of the European Ecolabel to ADEME (the French Environment and Energy Management Agency) and its issuance in France. AFNOR Certification. France, however, has its own eco-label with the NF Environnement Ecolabel. The European Ecolabel remains specific to paper and indicates that the packaging or product meets very specific standards in terms of raw materials and recycling.
► TETRA PACK
This logo certifies that a food brick is made of 100% FSC certified cardboard. But brick being composed on average of 75% of cardboard, 21% of plastic and 4% of aluminum, the recycling involves to separate the three materials. According to the CITEO activity report 2017 , the recycling rate of brick was 51.6% in 2017 against only 8% in 2000.
► REUSABLE PACKAGING LABEL
This logo representing two circular black arrows that rotate in the same direction is a label indicating that the packaging can be reused with or without treatment, for example a simple rinse. This is the case of glass or plastic bottles that can be used several times for the same purpose. A European directive ( 94/62 / EC ) defines reuse as one of the possibilities of upgrading a packaging and the EN 13427 standard specifies the conditions. Reusable packaging must therefore be developed in a recyclable material or energy recoverable (incineration with heat recovery) or compostable. But for example, a jar of mustard reused as drinking glass is a diversion of use, it is not a reuse according to the regulatory definition.
► WASTE
This logo with its three green arrows means that the product can be brought into a dump and possibly specifies its location. A dump is not a landfill, it is a fenced and finished place from which some waste is redirected to a recycling or recovery.
♦ Read also: The big challenge of waste management in Paris
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