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About Recycling Symbols

With so much information on packaging, finding recycling symbols is not difficult -
but working out exactly what they mean can sometimes be a bit of a challenge!

You have probably seen The Möbius Loop and The Green Dot on many products and pondered - "To Recycle, or not to Recycle ?"

You are not alone...many people are also wondering what they actually mean....read on to find out.

The Möbius Loop

This indicates that the object can be recycled.

There is sometimes a percentage within the triangle, this indicates the amount of recycled material that is contained in the product. It does not mean that it is made from recycled material.

The Möbius Loop is probably the most widely recognised recycling logo. This is very fortunate as it tells us something practical - that the object can be recycled.

The Green Dot (Der Grüne Punkt)

Unlike The Möbius Loop, The Green Dot is not always a particularly helpful guide as it is more about the contribution that the producer makes to recycling than the 'recyclability' of the product itself.

For practical reasons, it is often more useful to look for a symbol on a product that identifies specifically what it is made from. A further link to more recycling symbols used can be found at the bottom of this page.

In Europe, The Green Dot (trademark) is used to show that a producer has met the packaging regulations. In the UK The Green Dot is not used in this way but as a licensed trademark.
Find out more about The Green Dot and how it is used in Europe here Opens in a new window.

There are more recycling symbols that are specific to different materials such as aluminium, steel, plastics and glass. To read about these symbols, follow the link below'

• More recycling symbols