Green arrow symbol does not always point to recycling

A green symbol featured on hundreds of supermarket products is "very misleading", consumer watchdogs say, as it does not mean the wrapping can be recycled as shoppers assume.

By Jessica Salter Last Updated: 1:07AM BST 01 Sep 2008

The intertwined arrows of the Green Dot appear on a range of products from soap and detergent dispensers to toothpaste tubes and crisp packets.
It is widely believed to signify that the product can be recycled and may encourage environmentally-friendly shoppers to buy it.
However the sign is not a recycling symbol and has no meaning in the UK.
Lucy Yates, the National Consumer Council's policy advocate, said: "It should be removed from all packaging in the UK because it's very misleading."
The Green Dot trademark is used by more than 130,000 companies encompassing 460 billion packages, including well-known brands in the UK such as Cussons washing up liquid and Aquafresh toothpaste from GlaxoSmithKline.
It does have a specific meaning in 23 EU countries, where it indicates that the manufacturers have paid their fees for a waste recycling programme. In these countries, any item with a green dot is placed in a dedicated bin and the materials are collected, sorted and recycled where possible by agencies funded from the fees.
It has been reported that the Green Dot has contributed toward recycling rates in Germany reaching 70 per cent of all waste.
But the UK does not use the Green Dot recycling system, and products are only allowed to display the symbol on packaging if it is also exported to countries where the symbol is mandatory.
Valpak, the company that regulates the use of the trademark in the UK, states on its website: "The UK Green Dot is not a recycling symbol."
In a letter sent to Andrew George, a Liberal Democrat MP who has raised the issue of the Green Dot in Parliament, Valpak's Chief Executive, Steve Gough, said: "The Green Dot does not identify packages for recycling - this is a widely held misconception."
Companies distributing products in the UK can use the symbol if they pay £235 for a Green Dot trademark licence.
Valpak says the licence fee merely covers operating costs.
The consumer giant Proctor and Gamble is among the companies legally allowed to use the symbol in Britain because it also distributes in the Republic of Ireland, which does use the Green Dot system.
Last year Ben Bradshaw, the health minister, said in a written answer to Mr George that Valpak was responsible for "ensuring the integrity of the mark is protected and that it is not used in a misleading fashion or in derogation of its meaning in any way".
Peter Ainsworth, Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, said: "It is essential that we all have clear and honest information to help us do the right thing. Confusion is the enemy of action and it is action that we need above all."
A spokesman for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "The UK is not a participant in the Green Dot system and it is not a matter for Defra to comment on whether other EU Member States decide to use the label.
"Clear guidance on environmental labelling schemes can be found on the Defra website."