A new packaging label making recycling easier to understand

A new packaging label making recycling easier to understand

By Alejandra Laclette  October 11th, 2018

Planet Ark's Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) provides easy to understand recycling information when you need it most

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The Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) is an evidence-based system that provides you with easy to understand recycling information when you need it most, it removes confusion, saves you time and reduces waste.

But, do you really need help to recycle? It may look pretty straightforward, is just placing plastic, glass, paper and metals in the recycling bin, right? WRONG! There is more to it than just the type of materials, it really depends on the shape, colour, inks etc and additional materials of that piece of packaging.

Think about it… plastic and paper have to be recycled separately, so that box your yummy slices of banana bread came in, have to be separated from the plastic film. But then, the film is a soft plastic, and soft plastics cannot be recycled with the rest of the plastics because they jam the machines at the waste facilities…

Or bottle caps, if you leave the cap in a plastic bottle without crushing it, the cap might pop out when it gets compacted and will probably end up with the glass or other materials or worse… LANDFILL! How are you supposed to know all of this? 

 

Fortunately, many people are already using the Australasian Recycling Label. The label tells consumers how to correctly dispose of each component of the packaging, by doing so, it is possible to reduce contamination in the recycling bin and avoid extra costs that are caused by items that are not recyclable. It is the right label for the right bin.

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By Alejandra Laclette

After managing the sustainability educational program at her corporate job in Mexico, Alejandra decided to move to Sydney and undertake a Master in Sustainable Development, while working as a Sustainability Consultant for a compostable packaging company. She's now Planet Ark's Recycling Label Program Manager.

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