Recycling symbols and its meaning

It is in 1970 when the first is created Recycling symbol and arises following a design contest. The design used until now to indicate the recycling shows three arrowseach of them refers to an activity of the recycling process:

1. The used materials are collected.
2. Recycling activity is performed in recycling plants.
3. The recycled product returns to the market.

Maybe this is the Recycling symbol that we see more frequently in the containers. It’s about Two rounded arrows that bind form a circle. This symbol is marked by the European Directive of Packaging and Packaging Waste that holds companies for recycling their products. In Spain Ecoembes and Ecovidrio help producing companies to manage residues of paper, plastic and glass.

Waste should not only manage companies or managing societies, they are also the responsibility of citizens. There are waste that we generate when we are away from home and throw them on the floor, in rivers, lakes, etc., it is a lack of civility and a great irresponsibility with the environment and, in the end, with ourselves. With the Tidyman symbol, a person pulling garbage in a bin or containerit is intended that people also be responsible and deposit their waste in the corresponding places, whether lines or special containers.

There are different plastic containers depending on their composition, each of them is used to package different products. There is 7 types of plastics that can be differentiated by plastic recycling symbolthree arrows in triangle with a number in the center.

1. PET or PETE (Terephthalate polyethylene): For both drinks and food containers, this symbol is used.
2. HDPE (high density polyethylene): If you take a look at the cleaning products in your home you will find this symbol in their containers.
3. V or PVC (vinyl or polyvinyl chloride): They are plastics with great resistance, it is used for hygiene products, construction materials, tubes, etc …
4. LDPE (low density polyethylene): It is a type of plastic that is used for furniture, freezing bags … They are characterized by being transparent and resistant.
5. PP (polypropylene): heat resistant plastics, especially is used for medical or laboratory containers.
6. PS (polystyrene): Perhaps everyone’s harmful since it is used in single -use utensils.
7. Other in this category include those that are difficult or practically impossible to recycle such as DVD or MP3.

We recommend you learn more about this in these other articles on which plastics are recycled and which do not and how to recycle plastic at home.

Glass bottles also have their corresponding symbol, with respect to the packaging to throw in the glass container We must be especially careful, since sometimes glass containers are deposited. Glass and glass are not the same: if we throw the glass into the glass container, in the recycling process the composition of the new containers that are generated can be altered. If you did not know, the glass that is collected from the Green containersit is crushed until your mineral of origin, the silica, and from this new containers are made. Here you can see some of the glass recycling symbolsalthough sometimes the symbol of the recycling of two or three arrows can simply appear.

In this other post we talk more about how to recycle glass.

As with plastic, metals also have their own recycling symbols. Aluminum and steel are examples of recyclable metals in which you can see the metal recycling symbolslike those in the image below.

This type of waste cannot be deposited in any container. They must clean points to carry out proper management. The problem of this waste is that if they do not take to the clean points they generate a strong impact on the environment. If you think a little maybe an image of how they take electronic devices from rivers, or to walk through the field and find them lying.

In the case of the electronic or technological wasteyou can see that in some of the pieces is the symbol of plastic recycling that corresponds, in other parts there may be the symbol of the metal recyclingetc., since it goes through pieces and to throw it you would have to disassemble and recycle these pieces separately. On the other hand there are pieces of electronic products, or entire products, which cannot be recycled in the containers as we indicated and should go to the clean point.

We explain more about technological garbage: causes and consequences in this other post of ecology see and here we talk about what is a clean or green point and what it is for.

Once expired medications are dangerous to health, when they expire their corresponding treatment. In addition to being dangerous for humans, if we discard them by the drain they will end up contaminating the waters since they are not detected in the water treatment plant. In the case of Spain, to Recycle medications You have to take them to SIGRE POINT OF MEDICINES that, normally, is in pharmacies or medical centers. In these places you will find containers with the symbol of a cross and a green round arrow.

To expand more your knowledge about recycling, we recommend this Ecology Verde Recycling Guide in which you will find many tips on how to recycle trash at home.

If you want to read more articles similar to Recycling symbols and its meaningwe recommend that you enter our recycling and waste management category.