EPA may change "chasing arrows" recycling symbol for plastics The "chasing arrows" logo is universally recognized as a sign to recycle, but the Environmental Protection Agency is now saying it's ...

At least 85% of single-use plastic items don’t get recycled, even if they carry the familiar triangular symbol. A California bill would restrict which plastics can bear the mark.

His symbol was not widely adopted initially. Anderson recalled that the first time he saw the symbol in public was years later, when he spotted it on recycling bins in Amsterdam in the late 1970s.

What no one anticipated was just how emotionally attached people would become to recycling as the solution to America’s ugly trash problem. When the chasing arrows’ promise of rebirth was ...

His Recycling Symbol Is Everywhere. The E.P.A. Says It Shouldn’t Be. The agency wants to stop using the “chasing arrows” logo on plastics that can’t be recycled.

The "chasing arrows" symbol on a plastic bag, container or bottle doesn't mean it actually can be recycled. It's time to change that so consumers know exactly what they are buying.

A version of this article appears in print on Sept. 3, 2023, Section A, Page 16 of the New York edition with the headline: Debunking the ‘Recycling Myth,’ Starting With Its Symbol.

The use of the recycling symbol—the familiar three chasing arrows—constitutes a misrepresentation of claims, says the EPA.

The recycling symbol—those three arrows stamped on myriad plastic items—doesn’t mean what most people think it does, and a California bill wants to change that. The California Legislature ...