Environment

The Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment (Incpen) has questioned the ability of the British Retail Consortium's (BRC) on-pack logo to help clarify recycling information for consumers.

Incpen recommended that informing the public should be left to local authorities, following the example of other European countries, while on-pack messages could simply say "please recycle", together with a recognised symbol, such as the Recycle Now logo.

The BRC logo, published for consultation last month, categorises each of the materials used in a product's packaging into one of three types: widely recycled, check locally, or not currently recycled.

Asda is the first supermarket to use the logo – which is supported by most of the major UK retailers – for its Christmas gravy lines, and uptake is expected to increase next year after the consultation ends.

However, given the complexity of some packaging, Incpen said that trying to provide information about all the materials used could be "confusing" for consumers. It could also "reinforce the misconception" that sorting materials for collection constituted recycling, rather than being the start of the process.

Incpen also called for a "joint message" from local authorities and the packaging supply chain to inform the public about the need for non-bottle plastics to protect certain products, although it does not currently make environmental sense to recycle the material.

Other EU countries provided "simple and consistent" information about recycling, which helped to reduce contamination of recyclate, but this could mean that non-bottle plastics tended to be left in the mixed waste, said Incpen.