One of the biggest obstacles to increasing the recycling rate is making it easier for consumers.
Obviously, different types of material need to be handled differently, and countries, states, and cities all have their own regulations. It can be very confusing. This often causes items that can be easily recycled to be thrown in the trash instead.
The How2Recycle labels certainly help, giving general guidance for a particular item, but GreenBlue (the parent of How2Recycle) has now teamed up with The Recycling Partnership to provide dynamic, location-specific information as well.
Introducing Recycle Check and How2Recycle Plus Labels
The original How2Recycle labels are a big help in knowing how (or if) a particular item can be recycled or composted. Of course the printed label is static, so in many cases, it just states “Check Locally” for materials that are handled differently depending on the location.
The How2Recycle Plus label builds on the original concept by including a QR code.
When the consumer scans the barcode with their smartphone, they are taken to real-time local information (thanks to the phone’s location awareness) that provides the recycling information for that specific place. For people that don’t allow their phone to share their location, they can enter their zip code on the Recycle Check page.
The system is powered by The Recycling Partnership’s National Recycling Database, which centralizes recycling information for more than 9,000 U.S. communities and 99% of the population.
What Do I Think?
There’s no question that many items are never recycled because it is difficult to find up-to-date information about what consumers should do.
As brands adopt the Recycle Check label, it will certainly make things easier for those who want to be more sustainable but struggle to get information. It’s a nice step forward.
This will also be an opportunity for brands to include access to Recycle Check data as part of their GS1 Digital Link implementation.
Further Reading
Get more information at the Recycle Check homepage.
