The study was carried out by Sapio Research for Celebration Packaging.
“Over three fifths (61%) of survey respondents said that information on packaging is what they rely on the most to keep them informed about its correct disposal, underwriting the importance of it being properly certified,” says Celebration Packaging managing director Nick Burton.
“However, the survey has also shown that over 60% of consumers are unsure or chose the incorrect definitions for the terms recyclable and compostable, while only 38% find logos helpful in choosing how to dispose of food and drink packaging.
“Even though this survey has shown that 68% of consumers think that it is very or extremely important that food and drink packaging is certified recyclable, two thirds of respondents were not sure about or chose the incorrect definition for recyclable packaging (66%).”
Familiarity with the well-established ‘Recycle’ logo, with its circular white arrow on a green background was high in the survey – with 89% of consumers aware of it – but varied according to age group, rising to 95% for the over 65s.
Despite being in use since the 1970s, the ‘Möbius loop’ used to indicate that a product can be recycled, was familiar to less than half (48%) of those surveyed.
When it comes to the process of domestic recycling and disposal, only 34% of those surveyed said that they separate packaging for recycling and thoroughly rinse the packaging before adding it to the recycling bin. This drops to a mere 11% for the 18-24 age group, though rises to 53% for over 65s.