Back in 1970, Gary Anderson, then a 23-year-old senior at the University of Southern California, entered a design contest to choose a symbol for recycling products. The contest was sponsored by Container Corporation of America to showcase their commitment to environmental causes.
What Gary designed -- three curved arrows forming a triangle -- is now universally recognized as a symbol of products that are recyclable or made of recycled content. Across the world there are dozens of variants of this image, but the examples below show the symbols that are most common in the United States.
1. Recycling Symbol
This is the most common form of the symbol and is found on products like plastics, paper, metals and other material. It’s also seen, in many different styles, on recycling containers, at recycling centers, and anywhere there's an accent on smart use of materials and products.
2. Plastic Recycling Symbol
When the three arrows surround a number, that indicates the material is a type of plastic resin that can be recycled. There are seven different categories of plastics that carry this symbol (polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene, low density polyethylene, etc.), and each can be reused in some way. Not all recycling programs will accept all types of plastic, however, so check with your local program before tossing any plastics into a recycling bin.
3. Recycled Symbol
A circle around three arrows means the product is made of recycled material; it’s usually found on paper and cardboard. How much recycled material the product contains is sometimes indicated by a percentage inside the arrows. In other cases, black arrows on a white background indicate that the product is made of a combination of new and recycled content, and white on black means it's 100% recycled.
The symbols above are not trademarked and can be adapted or used by anyone, as long as they don’t violate the Federal Trade Commission’s rules for environmental marketing claims. The symbols below, however, were developed by industry groups for specific uses.
4. Glass Recycles
Glass Packaging InstituteDeveloped by the
Glass Packaging Institute, this symbol is widely used to encourage the recycling of glass. Even glass that doesn’t have this symbol, however, can usually be considered recyclable.
5. Recycled Paperboard
Recycled Paperboard AllianceThe
Recycled Paperboard Alliance uses this symbol to showcase paperboard that contains 100% recycled content. It’s often seen on packaging like cereal boxes. The amount of paperboard that came from consumer sources (as opposed to industrial sources) is indicated below the symbol.
6. Corrugated Recycles
Corrugated Packaging CouncilCorrugated cardboard that can be recycled is indicated by this symbol, developed by the folks at the
Corrugated Packaging Council. Not all corrugated packaging can be recycled; for example, if corrugated packaging is coated with wax or another substance, it might not be accepted for recycling and will usually not carry this label.
