Australasian Recycling Labels

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Australasian Recycling Labels explained.

The Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) is an evidence-based system that provides citizens with easy to understand recycling information when you need it most; it removes confusion, saves you time and reduces waste.

Packaging may look straightforward—it’s just plastic, glass, paper or metals. But there’s more to it than just the type of material it is, it depends on a range of factors such as shape, colour, inks or any additional materials within the packaging.

The ARL has been designed to provide information to consumers on how to dispose of each component of packaging, and by doing so, reduce contamination in the recycling bin and avoid extra waste management costs related to contamination and landfill.

Types of labels

There are three types of labels:

Label	Description
	Recyclable The colour/opaque recycling symbol, means that this piece of packaging can be placed in the yellow lid recycling bin as it is. Each piece of packaging with this label has to be placed separately in the recycling bin.
	Conditionally Recyclable The clear/transparent recycling symbol means that you must follow the instructions to recycle this packaging component. If instructions are not followed it will cause contamination to the recycling stream.
	Not Recyclable The bin symbol, means that this piece of packaging is not recyclable and you must place it in the red lid landfill bin. DO NOT place it in the recycling bin. It will not get recycled and it will contaminate the recycling stream.

Conditionally Recyclable Label instructions

Many items must be recycled through specific processes and this begins with how they are collected. Instructions may include the following.

How it works

How to interpret instructions on the three labels.