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label-your-packaging

En hand håller i en metallförpackning med sorteringsmärkning på.

Label your packaging

When you label your packaging with packaging material symbols, you help the consumer to sort them correctly. When the same symbols are on the packaging, at the recycling stations and in environmental rooms, it becomes easier to recycle.

A Nordic labelling system

The recycling labels are part of a joint Nordic labelling system for all waste fractions. The system has been developed by the Swedish Waste Management Association, a professional waste management body, together with sister associations in the Nordic countries, and packaging producers.

Do you sell packaging in several Nordic countries? Please note that there may be differences in use between the Nordic countries as adjustments have been made to adapt the system to Swedish conditions.

You download the cmyk-adapted EPS files by clicking on the images. Do you need the symbols in other formats? Contact us and we will help you!

 

 

Clear glass packaging icon Metal packaging icon Plastic packaging icon Paper packaging icon

  

Design guidelines

  • The size of the symbol can be scaled up or down to fit the packaging.

    It can be used with or without text, we recommend that the text is included for increased clarity. The type of packaging in text is always placed outside the colored field, either under or side by side, whatever works best for the format of the packaging.

     

    Colors

    Färginstruktioner till piktogram

    The colors must not be changed since the system has been designed using color categories based on shared attributes. Alternatively, the black and white version can be used. Do not use the symbol on its own, always use the colored or black background.

    Name of fraction/packaging

    A fraction name (packaging name) has been assigned to each symbol.

    • Colored glass packaging
    • Clear glass packaging
    • Metal packaging
    • Paper packaging
    • Plastic packaging

    Additional text – sorting instructions

    To make it easier for consumers to sort correctly, the packaging should have clear sorting instructions.

    We recommend:
    Sort as [material] packaging, preferably combined with the relevant symbol.

    If there is enough space, you should write [material] packaging, i.e. plastic packaging, paper packaging, clear glass packaging, etc.

    Packaging made up of multiple components that are easy to separate

    If the packaging contains two or more components that can easily be separated, such as a plastic lid on a paper cup, these should be sorted separately. In this case, the sorting instructions for the lid should be written on the paper cup. Example:

    The lid is sorted as plastic packaging. The cup is sorted as paper packaging.

    If the packaging comprises multiple components of the same type of material, sorting instructions should also be included for that material. Example:

    Both the lid and the bottle are sorted as plastic packaging.

    All information about the recycling labels and how they can be used is available in EU Pictos guidelines, download them at Sverige Sorterar.

    Download design guidelines

Good examples of packaging labelling

  • En hand som håller upp en vätskekartong med märkning som visar att förpackningen ska källsorteras som papper.
  • En hand som håller en jordnötssmörsburk med märkning som visar att förpackningen ska källsorteras som glas och plast.
  • En hand som håller upp en chipspåse med märkning som visar att förpackningen ska källsorteras som plast.
  • Närbild på kexchoklad med märkning som visar att förpackningen ska källsorteras som plast.
  • En hand som håller en flaska med mango- och chilisås med märkning som visar att förpackningen ska källsorteras som glas och metall.
  • En hand som håller en matförpackning med märkning som visar att förpackningen ska källsorteras som papper och plast.
  • En hand som håller upp ett smörpaket med märkning som visar att förpackningen ska källsorteras som papper och plast.
  • En hand som håller upp en förpackning med kattmat med märkning som visar att förpackningen ska källsorteras som metall.
  • En hand som håller upp en dryckeskartong med märkning som visar att förpackningen ska källsorteras som papper och plast.

By labeling the packaging with sorting symbols and explanatory text, it becomes easier for the consumer to know what material the packaging is made of and how it should be sorted. The labeling increases the chance that it will be source separated correctly.

En hand som håller upp en sprayflaska med märkning som visar att förpackningen ska sorteras som farligt avfall.

Hazardous waste

Packaging whose contents constitute hazardous waste must be marked with the correct hazard symbol, so that it is clear to the user how it should be handled.

En hand som håller en förpackning med städservetter med märkning som visar att produkten innehåller plast.

Single-use plastic products

Within the EU, there are requirements that mugs that are single-use plastic products must be labeled with a special label to inform the consumer about how the packaging/product should be handled to reduce littering.

Packaging containing single-use plastic products, such as wet wipes, tampons and pads, must also have the label.

Read more in the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s guidance.

En närbild på en dryckeskartong med fastsatt plastlock.

Packaging with an attached plastic cap

Recommended sorting instructions

We recommend the following sorting instructions for packaging with an attached plastic cap or lid – for example milk cartons or yoghurt packaging:

Sort the packaging as paper packaging. Sort the cap/lid as plastic packaging if it is easy to remove the cap/lid when sorting/at the moment of sorting.

This ensures that the material of the cap or lid is recycled, which does not happen if the cap or lid remains on the packaging during source sorting.

Green Dot – the symbol for paid packaging fee

The Green Dot is an international symbol that shows that the packaging fee has been paid in the country where the packaging or the packaged item is sold. In Sweden, we at Näringslivets Producentansvar are the licensors. The Green Dot is one of the world’s most famous symbols and is currently used by over 30 countries within Europe.

 

The Green Dot available for download in various formats

EPS          JPG          JPG

 

Rules for using the Green Dot

In order to be able to use the Green Dot on your packaging, it is required that you as a producer comply with the packaging regulation, that you are affiliated to an approved producer responsibility organisation and that you pay a license fee for the Green Dot. As an affiliated customer to Näringslivets Producentansvar, the license fee for the Green Dot is included in the annual fee you pay to us. You can thus use the symbol without further action.

The conditions for the use of the Green Dot in Sweden appear in our Instructions

How the symbol may be used on packaging is regulated in the design guidelines produced by Pro Europe, you can find them here

If you have products in multiple markets in Europe, you need to ensure the use of licenses in all relevant countries – here you will find information for the license providers in each country

Plans for a common European standard for labelling

One challenge linked to the labeling of packaging is that there is currently no common standard for Europe. Today’s Swedish system is based on the Nordic labeling system, but there are differences between countries, which can create problems for producers with packaging in several markets.

 

Common sorting symbols as part of the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR)

As part of the PPWR, it is proposed that common sorting symbols should be developed to be used throughout Europe. Work has therefore begun on creating such a unified system. The Nordic participants who contributed to the development of the Nordic labeling system have highlighted the advantages of this, but what a future European standard for packaging labeling will look like is not yet clear, nor when it might be in place. We therefore recommend our affiliated producers to use the symbols from the Nordic system to label their packaging until further notice.

Do you have questions about anything related to labeling?
Please contact your Key Account Manager or send us an email via producer@npa.se

 

Matvaror och förpackningar som åkt ut från en vält papperskasse.

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