Research: Do we really know what packaging symbols mean?

Every day, we throw away waste, but do we actually do this consciously? While some people carefully sort their waste, others throw everything in the general waste bin. There are countless symbols on packaging, but do we really know what they mean or do we simply throw a piece of packaging into a bin, hoping it’s the right one? We investigated how well British people understand the meaning of packaging symbols and came to some surprising conclusions!

The majority is unaware of the meaning of packaging symbols. For example, 90% of respondents say they only know the meaning of a few icons. Even 6% say they don’t know the meaning of any. A select group (4%) claims to know what all the icons mean.

When unsure which container a piece of packaging belongs to, the majority (58%) rely on their own intuition. However, not everyone follows their gut; 17% consult waste separation guidelines. Additionally, 21% automatically throw packaging they don’t know into the general waste bin. A small portion (3%) prefer to ask someone else, while 1% never pays attention to which container a piece of packaging belongs in.

We showed a few icons to the respondents and asked them to match each symbol with its meaning. Overall, most participants were able to correctly match the icons with their meanings. However, there was one icon where only 12% gave the correct answer.

The symbol on the left indicates that for each piece of packaging, a financial contribution has been made to a national packaging recovery organization.

In addition to this symbol, there was another one that not everyone recognized. 14% of respondents gave an incorrect answer regarding the symbol in the middle. The symbol on the middle is a reminder to recycle your glass containers, such as glass bottles and jars.

There was one symbol that nearly everyone knew the correct meaning of. That is the symbol on the right. A staggering 98% gave the correct answer when asked what the symbol means. This is likely because this symbol appears on almost all packaging and has the most general meaning: this symbol means you should throw it in the trash after use.

It’s clear that more knowledge about packaging symbols is needed. This research shows that we still throw products into the wrong container too often. This happens because we simply don’t know where it belongs, or we think we know, but our assumption turns out to be incorrect.

We asked respondents how important it is to have clear explanations of the symbols. 69% said they think it’s very important and that it would make waste sorting much easier. In contrast, 27% think it’s important, but not a priority. For 3%, the meanings are already clear, making it less relevant to them. A very small percentage (1%), thinks it’s not important at all and never pays attention to it.

Women seemed to find clarity for symbols more pressing than men - 75,95% indicated they find it very important, while only 62,66% of men shared that view.

Interestingly, people from London were the most sure to know what all the packaging symbols mean: 10,23% said they were sure to know the meaning vs. 4,18% for across the UK. Londoners were also most likely to research or look at waste separation guidelines - 21,59% compared to 17,36% across the UK. In Yorkshire and the Humber only 5% of people indicated checking separation guidelines.

When looking at differences across ages people under 25 years old indicated they were the most sure to know the meaning of all symbols - 9,64%, compared to only 3,37% of 65+ year olds.

This study was conducted through a survey of over 800 British people between 1 January and 14 March 2025. The meanings of the symbols were sourced from the website www.recycle-more.co.uk.