More major food and consumer goods brands are signing up to use a voluntary on-package recycling label to help clear up consumer confusion around recycling and help them conform to the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) recently updated “green?marketing guides.
Developed by the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC), a project of sustainability nonprofit GreenBlue, the How2Recycle label is already in use by food brands and retailers including Yoplait yogurt and Costco.
Now, as part of its soft launch in the first quarter of next year, the label will be appearing on a new juice product from Minute Maid, Clorox’s Scoop Away products, and select Exclusive Brands products from Best Buy in the coming months.
The How2Recycle label aims to reduce American consumer's confusion about recycling with a clear and consistent recycling label and corresponding informational website, how2recycle.info.
The label also helps companies conform to the FTC's green guides, which includes new guidance on marketers?use of product certifications and seals of approval, renewable energy claims, renewable materials claims, and carbon offset claims.
"With the revision of the FTC’s Green Guides now out, attention again has turned to accurate and transparent recyclability messaging, and the SPC’s How2Recycle Label is quickly becoming the industry standard," said GreenBlue Senior Manager Anne Bedarf.
SPC is a 200-member working group of packaging supply chain companies including Coca-Cola, Proctor & Gamble, Target, Solo Cup Co., Dow Chemical, and Nature Works.
The SPC plans to add up to 20 additional participants after the soft launch phase next year and aims for the label to appear on the majority of consumer product packaging by 2016.
The How2Recycle Label can already be found on numerous products available (or soon to be available) in the marketplace:
Este? Lauder’s Aveda Outer Peace Acne Pads
a variety of Kirkland products from Costco
General Mills?Yoplait yogurt brand
Microsoft computer accessories
REI’s Novara bicycle accessories, multi-towels, and hang tags
most Seventh Generation products
Sealed Air’s Fill-Air inflatable packaging
“Reducing our environmental footprint is important to Clorox. One way we can do this is to encourage consumers to recycle our packages. Consumers understand the concept of recycling but are frequently confused on what packages can or can’t be recycled. They want the process to be easier and we think the recovery label does just that,?said Gwen Lorio of Clorox. “As we enable consumers to recycle correctly, we ensure more quality recycled material is available for us to use, our consumers send less waste to landfill, and we can reduce the energy needed to create new packages.
