Green Dot, recyclability marks, sorting instructions… some logos associated with environmental claims are regulated… but often not in the same way in different countries around the world. During the International Meeting held on March 25, 2021, Catherine Apolinario, Cosmed’s International Regulatory Affairs Officer, proposed a world tour of the rules that apply to environmental logos before presenting the certifications that can be used when talking about an environmental approach.
When talking about environmental logos, we must first distinguish between mandatory and regulated logos (e.g. the Green Dot) and “educational” logos that allow consumers to sort their waste correctly.
And take into account the fact that all of them can be misunderstood by consumers…
Environmental logos
A misreading of logos
According to a study conducted at the end of 2020 by OpinionWay on 1002 people aged 18 and over, the French do not recognise the different environmental logos and are lost when it comes to sorting their packaging:
• 70% do not find the sorting instructions on the packaging or do not understand them
• 72% do not understand the meaning of the Green Dot, and associate it with the recyclable nature of the packaging, which is not the case
And the Green Dot is not the only mandatory marking that is misunderstood (this is also the case for the Triman for 58% of the French, for example).
*And yet, confusion among consumers means, at one time or another, new regulations,” warned Catherine Apolinario.
And in fact, the first ones have already been published…
The Green Dot
Contrary to what is commonly thought, this logo does not mean that the …