Based on the comments below, it sounds like the introduction of standardized labels is threatening a couple of people or organizations who are currently benefiting/profiting from the chaos.

All anyone needs to do is look at common sense and the facts.   Click on the article reporting a study about this subject.  Note the first sentence, "Labels are key!" http://www.startribune.com/local/south/88836552.html?page=1&c=y  Studies show, consistent labels resulted in increased capture rates and cleaner materials captured (47% improvement is reported in this article).  So you want us to believe that inconsistent labels throughout society is better?  RAA created a label for all sorting needs and continues to add to the options based on various sorting requirements throughout the country - it's not trying to say one size fits all.    

Increasing capture rates while reducing the haulers' and converters' expenses related to costly contamination, is a good thing isn't it?  Having cleaner materials for the U.S. market, is a good thing isn't it?  Looking at the bigger picture, it is a fact that an increase in recycling and use of recycled materials means an increase in jobs and an improved national economy.  That's a good thing too, right?  

Fact:  Inconsistent labels are not resulting in progress - that has been proven over many years (contamination in recycling bins is high, recycling levels are low and people are confused at the bin). 

1.  Ask non-industry and industry people about recycling in public and what they think of how bins are labeled.  

2.  Ask the converters how much it costs them in $ and time to sort out the contamination in the materials they just purchased from the hauler and how much they have to pay to dispose of that contamination.  By the way, that company just paid for those materials by the weight only to find that a certain percentage of that weight is garbage. Ask them if that half eaten hot dog in their materials is good for business.

3.  Ask the EPA how recycling rates have been doing in the U.S.

Yes we all love the chasing arrow, but unfortunately the chasing arrow is clip art.  It can be put on anything, and people/companies DO put it on anything (including some styrofoam) because there isn't any oversight of its use.  The completely damages the public's understanding and trust for what is recyclable and recycled.  And the chasing arrow placed on a bin by itself isn't enough information to tell the person at the bin what to put in the bin. The label on a bin needs a picture, needs simple words, needs the icon and needs color coding that is consistent.   

As wonderful as it would be to ask everyone in the U.S. to get rid of their bins and use standardized bins, it is not likely to happen any time soon, if ever.  Not to mention the environmental impact of all those existing bins going out of service, is an environmental fright.  And asking all the haulers to switch to only one sorting practice nationally isn't practical or likely at this time either.   So doesn't it kind of make sense to introduce standardized labels first?  One needs to ask, why would anyone fight to keep inconsistent labels when they have created so many problems?  

RAA is essentially a distributor of bins and recycling stickers, just like any other distributor, which is fine for consumers who want another option for buying recycling bins/labels. It is great that Resource Recycling emphasizes that RAA no longer allows downloads (for reasons that do not really make sense except to earn money on the product), and is looking at legal action. This is not a do-good mission but rather a savvy business person who wants to market a product. That's great but should be recognized as such. 

Bin labels are just one piece of the puzzle, and recycling programs vary so much that uniformity of stickers really does not address the challenges around the country, nor does it address the fact that each recycler (and broker who sells to a recycler) may want very specific collections depending on the products manufactured from the collected materials. This can vary state-to-state, region-to-region, and business-to-business.

There are many types of bin labels out there that work great - in fact the best labels are ones that are custom-designed (oftentimes by an individual business or school) to address recyclable items SPECIFIC TO THAT PROGRAM. Pictures of these recyclable items, as well as customized visual triggers such as a company sustainability logo - or even just consistency throughout a building - are both ways to address some of the education needed to collect recycling. But labels are a small piece of the bigger puzzle of education, both at the purchasing end as well as the disposal end.

I certainly understand the logic of standardization. Those little stick figure signs are what keeps me from walking into the ladies' room.

But it seems like with all the varieties of local recycling systems, the solution needs to be more than just a fancy sticker. If the goal is preventing contamination, there's a lot of work yet to do out there, including research addressing bin shapes, placement of bins, lid types, etc. There's also a lot of technology. If the goal is promoting recycling and increasing participation, that's a different issue.

If you want a nice sticker for your bins - and one of these happens to fit your need - there's nothing wrong with these. But I'm skeptical of a "national movement" with so little apparently backing it up. Feels like a commercial venture.

Far from being "infamous, confusing, or meaningless", the chasing arrows logo is widely recognized as a recycling symbol.  The only confusion comes from a certain industry's obfuscation and misuse of the symbol.  Instead of dealing with that problem, this group wants us to all replace our stickers and logos, and educate the public to recognize a replacement logo. 

We're grateful to Resource-Recycling for sharing the standardized label initiative!   We also wanted to add a couple of points in this comment forum.  

We wanted to clarify that there are a number of label size options (4x10, 5.5 x 8.5, 9x12 and rounds, as well as custom sizes with prices starting at $1/each) and there are rebates available to schools and non-profits, thanks to sponsors such as Republic Services, Busch Systems, Return2Earth Products, PFI, ClearStream, who are helping to subsidize the cost of labels for schools and non-profits.  

Additionally, just to keep a couple of comments in the article in proper context, we wanted to add this note:   When the discussion came up about the chasing arrows not being protected and the problems that have ensued with that icon as a result of lack of protection, I was asked if we will be copyrighting and protecting the standardized labels. I responded saying that copyrighting and protecting the effort will be important, otherwise standardization will dilute and then recycling will be right back to label confusion, public frustration, low capture rates, costly contamination of recycled materials, unstable economics of a recycling market, and hindered environmental progress.  

We are very proud to say that in only a few short months, there are organizations, schools, municipalities, counties, non-profits and households in every state in the union already using standardized recycling labels.  As of this month, with North America's top recycling label producer now eliminating all the other labels they've offered in the past and only distributing the standardized labels going forward, we're seeing the movement toward standardized labels gaining even more tremendous momentum.

Finally, we are also working on generating funding for "Free Label Make-Over Grants" for those that are unable to pay for labels.  We will notify Resource Recycling when we have "Label Make-Over Grants" available to announce to their subscribers.  

All the best!

Mitch Hedlund - Recycle Across America