New Label Makes Recycling Easy

New Label Makes Recycling Easy

By Brad Gray  October 6th, 2015

Planet Ark is very proud to launch its new Australian Recycling Label, which has been designed to address both customer confusion and the desire for on-pack information.

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Australians are great recyclers with more than 90% of households recycling the paper and packaging they use at home. However, research undertaken for National Recycling Week 2014 showed that almost everyone is confused about the recyclability of at least one common packaging item.

That research also showed that consumers want to see information about recycling on-pack.

Planet Ark is very proud to launch its new Australian Recycling Label, which has been designed to address both customer confusion and the desire for on-pack information.

The label is made up of a simple diagram, which provides clear instructions about the recyclability of each component of the pack. Recyclability is determined by bringing together information about the extent of council collections and whether the component can be sorted and processed in existing recycling infrastructure.  

Two of Australia’s best-known brands are already using the Australian Recycling Label to help their customers recycle correctly.

Officeworks - the first company to adopt the Recycling LabelIn August 2015 Officeworks was the first company to adopt the label. Lok-Man Shu, National Sustainability Manager, said "Officeworks wants to make a positive difference and we believe our customers do too.  Removing barriers and making it easy to do the right thing will help drive positive actions. The Australian Recycling Label removes confusion and helps customers recycle correctly so we were happy to be the first company in Australia to adopt and roll out the label."

BlackmoresHealth and well being brand Blackmores joined them in September. Chairman of the company, Marcus Blackmore, said “80 years ago my father, Maurice Blackmore, shared his radical views on recycling because he understood that you can’t have healthy people without a healthy planet. For recycling to have the best environmental and economic outcomes individuals, households, councils, the community and businesses need to play their part. Blackmores is proud to be one of the first companies to adopt the Australian Recycling Label. We want to know that the instructions we are giving our customers are backed by evidence.”

Over the coming months more manufacturers will join these two leading companies with their own labelled products. As more manufacturers and retailers use the label there will be less confusion, less contamination, better recycling and a healthier planet.

For more information visit the Australian Recycling Label site.

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By Brad Gray

Brad was Planet Ark's Head of Campaigns for 10 years. He trained and worked as a history and geography teacher before moving into the health education sector for 14 years. With a strong passion for human environments, Brad started with Planet Ark in 2007 as Recycling Programs Manager.

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