Hey Mr. Green!

Q: Can a company use the “recycled” logo (the triangle made with chasing arrows) on a paper product that only has 10 percent recycled content?

—Nancy in Honolulu

A: Yes, if it “clearly and prominently” states the percent on the package (e.g., “10% recycled fiber”). This declaration of content is commonly placed right below the chasing arrows logo. According to the Federal Trade Commission guidelines, if a product is “partially made of recycled material, the marketer should clearly and prominently qualify the claim to avoid deception about the amount or percentage, by weight, of recycled content in the finished product or package.”

At the same time, nobody marketing a paper product should brag that it is “recycled” if it contains scrap routinely retrieved in the manufacturing process. A product can only be baptized “recycled” if it would have otherwise been tossed away—either by consumers or during the manufacturing process. For example, if a paper company makes excess newsprint that a newspaper doesn’t ended up using, the paper company should not call this excess paper “recycled” if it is subsequently used by another printer. 

Keep in mind that these are guidelines, not actual regulations. The FTC doesn’t check each product to see if it conforms to the guidelines. However, if you suspect deceptive use of a recycling logo, this bad behavior can be reported to the FTC (877-FTC-HELP), state agencies, or the Better Business Bureau. The FTC has the authority to investigate and take action against bogus deployment of the symbols or false claims about a product’s environmental benefits. 

I would be remiss if I didn’t conclude with my annual holiday sermonette exhorting you to reuse or recycle all your paper that’s untainted by food, grease, or drool, especially those mountains of gift wrappings, cards, and boxes from your legions of fans, friends, and dedicated groupies. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the volume of household waste goes up by 25 percent, according the EPA. True, paper recycling has been mighty successful, with almost 65 percent now getting recycled, or around 44 million tons. So, despite the progress, there’s still quite a substantial heap going to waste.