Can retail teach America how to recycle better?

A survey from packaging company DS Smith finds 59 percent of U.S. consumers believe disposal instructions on items are hard to find, and 63 percent would be more likely to purchase products with well-marked recycling directions.

On the positive side, the survey found 78 percent saying they believe their recycling efforts are helping the environment, with 72 percent having access to at-home or curbside recycling. Yet 62 percent agree there’s a lot of conflicting advice on recycling.

The survey comes amid heightened eco-consciousness due to climate change as well as other surveys showing confusion about recycling guidelines.

A study released last fall by the Paper and Packaging Board (P+PB) found 95 percent of Americans saying they recycle, but only 34 percent said they recycle frequently and fewer than half know the basics of recycling, such as how boxes should be cleaned out and broken down for pick-up. A Consumer Brands Association report last year asserted the confusion has led to “a broken recycling system in America.”

The “Chasing Arrows” recycling symbol on a product means it can be recycled. However, environmentalists have long complained the symbol is often misleading, and many non-recyclables wind up contaminating entire batches in America’s single-stream recycling system. According to the National Waste & Recycling Association trade group, about 25 percent of the recycle bin cannot be recycled because they’re contaminated with food waste and nonrecyclable materials.

Last fall, California passed a “Truth in Labeling” bill that severely restricted what items could use the recycling label.

Researchers from the University of Exeter and the University of Queensland suggest that rather than “yes-no” recycling labels, a “sustainability scale” could better measure recyclability rates while weighing factors such as the environmental cost of production and potential human health risks from additives.

Requiring packaging to carry region-specific directions for disposal would shift responsibility away from consumers and towards regulators and plastic producers, researchers argue. Lead author Stephen Burrows said in a statement, “This is vital because the mix of plastic products is so complex and confusing, industry must be responsible for clear, accurate and accessible instructions on how best to dispose of plastic items.”

• Consumers More Likely to Buy Goods With Clearer Recycling Directions as DS Smith Reveals Its Top 12 Hard-to-Recycle Items – DS Smith/Business Wire
• New Survey Reveals Gaps in Consumer Recycling Behavior and Knowledge – Paper and Packaging Board
• Set up for Failure – Consumer Brands Association
• The US Recycling System Is Garbage – Sierra Club
• California sets nation’s strictest rules on recycling labels – The Associated Press
• Plastic labelling needs ‘sustainability scale’ – University Of Exeter
• The message on the bottle: Rethinking plastic labelling to better encourage sustainable use – Science Direct
• Recycling Alliance Wants Symbol With Chasing Arrows Scrapped – The Wall Street Journal