What Does the Recycle Logo Look Like?

The Recycle Logo is known internationally and is placed on dispensers where items that may be Recycled are contained. The Recycle Logo is made up of three arrows, each pointing to the next one which forms a Möbius strip; which is basically a single sided looped area that does not ever end.

Recycle Logo: Goes Unchanged and Gains Popularity

In the years 1969 and 1970, the world began to recognize the Recycle Logo as there was more attention placed on the environment and issues that may arise in the future if things did not change. This lead to the very first Earth Day.

Around this time, there was a contest sponsored by the Chicago Container Corporation of America in which people were asked to create a design that would raise the awareness of the environment. Gary Anderson won. He was a 23 year old college student from the University of Southern California. The Recycle Logo has gone unchanged ever since.

Variations of the Recycle Logo

In general, the Recycle Logo has never changed but in certain countries where there are no regulations surrounding it; people have edited it up a bit to have it better suit their personal needs. The Recycle Logo most of us know contains arrows that create a triangle that is standing on its point that is upside down. Other designs have been rotated about 60 degrees to change up the overall design.

Many variants of present day have all the arrows folding into over themselves, giving three half-twists. There are even variations of the Recycle Logo that offer single half-twists. Typically the Recycle Logo is shown pointing clockwise, but some forms are opposite for added creativity.

The American Paper Institute promoted a whopping four different variations of the Recycle Logo for different reasons:

• The plain Möbius strip loop which is either white with an outline of black or solid black was used in order to say that a product could be recycled.
• The one with the Möbius strip inside a circle was either white on black or black on white and were for products that were made from recycled materials.
• The white on black version was only used on 100% recycled fibers.
• The black on white versions were for products that contained some recycled parts; but were not fully made from recycled materials.

The ISO/IEC working group has been discussing possibly creating even more versions of the symbol in order to have them mean a wider variety to things and helping people keep track of what products contain what.

What’s so great about the Recycle Logo is the fact that it has been a part of our society for so long that no one will ever be able to forget what it means. At the end of the day, even if the symbol is changed; there aren’t ever going to be any questions as to what it means.

Many people are just glad the symbol was created and that society is beginning to care so much about the environment and keeping it safe from harm. The Recycle Logo not only helps the present but the future of our home; Planet Earth, as well.