Growth of waste is one of the biggest issues of the present. According to some researches, the most quickly increasing waste stream today is electronic waste (or e-waste). Over 50 million tonnes of e-waste are produced in the world every year, but less than one fifth of it is designated for recycling. To draw public attention to the problem, Material Focus, a British organization advocating electronic waste recycling, has introduced a logo that is supposed to mark e-products to be recycled.
The logotype is a result of Material Focus’ cooperation with the London-base design studio Truant, established as a part of the “behavior changing campaign” from the environmental organization. The basic idea for the design project was to make consumers know what they can do after their household appliances come to the end of lifespan. The Truant designers figured out that the emblem for this purpose had to be simple and easily read not only by consumers, but also by retailers and local councils to plan e-waste recycling programs.
According to David Gamble, a co-founder and creative director of Truant, the studio created several variants of the logotype including a lightbulb and a bolt of electricity. But the meanings of such images were unclear for research groups. Eventually, the team settled on a logo mixing the recognizable symbols – the recycling arrow and stand-by icon. And looking at this emblem, nearly three quarters of respondents said that it should have connection with electronics and recycling.
Material Focus expects this logo to be widely used by suppliers and local authorities as it is a good unifying symbol to conserve resources and make the environment cleaner.
