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MONDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2008
Consumer group demands removal of Green Dot symbol
 Lucy Yates, of the National Consumer Council (United Kingdom), has called for the removal of the Green Dot mark from all packaging on sale in the UK on the ground that it is very misleading since consumers seeing it assume that it is a recycling symbol.
According to a news item in today's Telegraph, the Green Dot trade mark is used by more than 130,000 companies in respect of some 460 billion packages, including well-known brands in the UK such as Cussons washing up liquid and Aquafresh toothpaste from GlaxoSmithKline. In 23 of the 27 EU countries it indicates that the manufacturers have paid their fees for a waste recycling programme. In those countries, any item with a green dot is placed in a dedicated bin and the materials are collected, sorted and recycled where possible by agencies funded from the fees.
The UK (unlike neighbouring Ireland) does not use the Green Dot recycling system and products may only display that symbol on their packaging if it is also exported to countries where the use of that symbol is mandatory. Valpak, the company which controls the use of the trade mark in the UK, states on its website: "The UK Green Dot is not a recycling symbol".
For information concerning the Green Dot and EU competition law click here.
Posted by: Jeremy Phillips @ 14.17
Tags: Green Dot, |
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