OPRL – the On-Pack Recycling Label organisation – has launched a new labelling system in an attempt to help consumers work out what to do with packaging.

The ‘simplified’ labels follow a long period of discussion and for the majority of packaging will now advise consumers to either ‘Recycle’ or ‘Don’t Recycle’.

Previously the labels categorised packaging into three sub-categories: ‘Widely Recycled’; ‘Check Local Recycling’; and ‘Not Yet Recycled’.

An items’ recyclability is calculated on the percentage of councils that collect it and, for the first time, whether it can be processed and marketed effectively as opposed to being sent to landfill or incineration.

The launch of the new labels and accompanying rules are hoped to drive the switch to more sustainable packaging ahead of the introduction of extended producer responsibility measures for packaging in 2023. This was hailed by OPRL chair Jane Bevis as “the biggest launch in our history”.