Recycling symbol

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The Universal Recycling Symbol, here rendered with a black outline and green fill. Both filled and outline versions of the symbol are in use.

The universal recycling symbol (♲ or U+2672 in Unicode) is an internationally-recognized symbol used to designate recyclable materials. It is composed of three chasing arrows that form a Möbius strip or unending loop.

In 1969 and early 1970, worldwide attention to environmental issues reached a crescendo, culminating in the first Earth Day. In response, then Chicago-based Container Corporation of America, a large producer of recycled paperboard which is now part of Stone-Smurfit Corporation, sponsored a contest for art and design students at high schools and colleges across the country to raise awareness of environmental issues. It was won by Gary Anderson, a 23-year-old college student at the University of Southern California, whose entry was the image now known as the universal recycling symbol.

The symbol is in the public domain, and is not a trademark. The Container Corporation of America originally applied for a trademark on the design, but the application was challenged, and the corporation decided to abandon the claim. As such, anyone is free to use the recycling symbol, although local laws may restrict its use in product labeling - such as, for example, when its use on non-recycled goods would be misleading and/or deceptive.

[edit] Variants

As the use of the symbol is not regulated, countless variants of it exist. Anderson's original proposal had the triangle formed by the arrows standing on its tip — upside down compared with the versions most commonly seen today — but the CCA, adopting Anderson's design, changed it to stand on its base instead.

Both Anderson's proposal and CCA's official design had one of the arrows folding the opposite way from the other two, such that they produced a Möbius strip with one half-twist. However, many variants of the symbol have all the arrows folding the same way, producing a Möbius strip with three half-twists. Existing versions that do have one of the arrows folding differently do not generally agree on which of the arrows is the different one.

The American Paper Institute originally promoted four different variants of the recycling symbol for different purposes. The plain Möbius loop, either white with outline or solid black, was to be used to indicate that a product was recyclable. The other two variants had the Möbius loop inside a circle — either white on black or black on white — and were meant for products made of recycled materials, with the white-on-black version to be used for 100% recycled fiber and the black-on-white version for products containing both recycled and unrecycled fiber.

In 1988, the American Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) developed the resin identification code which is used to indicate the most common material used in the manufacture of the product or packaging. Their purpose is to assist recyclers with sorting the collected materials but they do not necessarily mean that the product/packaging can be recycled either through domestic curbside collection or industrial collections. The SPI symbols are loosely based on the Möbius loop symbol, but feature simpler bent arrows that can be embossed on plastic surfaces without loss of detail.

Taiwan's recycling symbol. Note the use of negative space to create arrows pointing outward.

An infinity sign (∞) inside a circle represents the permanent paper sign, used in packaging and publishing to signify the use of acid-free paper.

[edit] See also

Resin identification code - SPI resin identification coding system (NA Society of the Plastics Industry) for classifying different recyclable plastics.
Green Dot symbol