Recycling symbols (Australia)

FOR A DETAILED EXPLANATION OF THE ORIGIN, DEVELOPMENT AND PRESENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE VARIOUS RECYCLING SYMBOLS UTILIZED IN THE UNITED STATES GO TO: http://www.earthodyssey.com/symbols.html.

In Australia the states of Victoria and New South Wales have adopted a system of recycling symbols that was developed by the Southern Sydney Waste Planning and Management Board. In Victoria the symbols are administered by EcoRecycle Victoria, the Victorian government agency charged with protecting the environment. In general, the symbols incorporate graphics and words to identify the recyclable material together with a stylized triangular mobius-loop universal recycling symbol that has been adopted within Australia. The plastic resin identification codes (1-7) are supported in localities to the extent the particular plastic materials are collected. However, these code numbers are not depicted within the graphic symbols to any extent.

Australia, like New Zealand, has developed a unified system that encompasses all types of recyclable materials. Their efforts may represent the evolution of recycling symbols away from the fragmented system that emanated from various sources in the United States, to a truly uniform, standardized, and internationally recognized system of symbols that nevertheless allows for a national identity. It must be kept in mind that the symbols provided on this page serve a primary purpose of identifying containers and locations for the collection of recyclable materials of one particular type per container. Consequently, an individual product must still be identified by a specific symbol to designate that it is in fact recyclable, or else there must be public knowledge that certain items are recyclable, as for example, aluminum cans or newspaper.

The symbol below has been adopted as the universal recycling symbol. It is incorporated in all of the specific recycling symbols for different materials.

Australia's Universal Recyling Symbol

 

Recycling Symbols Utilized
in the State of New South Wales

The symbols shown below may be downloaded from the website of Social Change Media.

The basic symbol images can be presented in portrait or landscape orientation. The portrait orientation, which is also the larger sized symbol, can be placed on the container itelf. The smaller landscape oriented symbol is sized for the lid of the container.

'Recyclable' symbols for paper, cardboard and paperboard

Note: The recyclable content of milk and juice cartons must be waxed paperboard only.

'Recyclable' symbols for glass

'Recyclable' symbols for plastic

'Recyclable' symbols for cans

'Recyclable' symbols for food and garden materials

'Recyclable' symbols for mixed materials

'Recyclable' symbols for construction materials and debris

Symbol for garbage (non-recyclable waste)

All of the symbols displayed above are usable by the consumer for identification of containers holding specific recyclable materials. There is also a group of symbols whose use is primarily intended for transfer stations and landfills within the state of Victoria. These symbols are shown below many of which are identical to the ones above for New South Wales.

 

Recycling Symbols Uitlized
in the State of Victoria

The symbols shown below may be downloaded from the EcoRecycle Victoria website. The symbols all denote recyclable materials except, of course, for the symbol denoting a material with no further useful purpose, in other words garbage.