Aluminium recycling (alu)
Aluminium recycling (alu)
The item is aluminium and can be recycled as aluminium.
What it looks like
Two curved arrows chasing each other around the letters "alu", or the word ALU inside a Mobius loop.
What it means
Recycling aluminium takes roughly 5% of the energy needed to smelt it from bauxite, which is why scrap aluminium has real value and why drinks cans are collected almost everywhere. The mark distinguishes aluminium from steel because the two are separated differently on a sorting line — steel is pulled out magnetically, aluminium by an eddy-current separator. Foil and foil trays are recyclable too if they are clean and scrunched into a ball big enough for the machinery to see.
Defined by National packaging labelling schemes. Where a symbol differs between standards, the difference is described above rather than resolved — both versions are in circulation on real labels.
Other packaging and recycling symbols
| Symbol | Means |
|---|---|
| Mobius loop (chasing arrows) | The producer claims the item can be recycled — not that it will be, and not that your council collects it. |
| Mobius loop with a percentage | The pack contains that percentage of recycled material. |
| Green Dot (Der Grüne Punkt) | The producer paid into a national packaging recovery scheme. It does not mean the pack is recyclable, recycled, or made of recycled material. |
| Tidyman | Dispose of this thoughtfully. It has nothing to do with recycling. |
| Glass recycling (bottle bank) symbol | Take this glass to a bottle bank or glass collection. |
| Recyclable steel | The item is steel — usually tinplate — and is separated magnetically for recycling. |
| Compostable seedling (EN 13432) | Certified to break down in an industrial composting facility — not in a home heap, a bin or the environment. |
| Home compostable | Certified to break down in an ordinary garden compost heap at ambient temperature. |
| FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) | The wood or paper comes from forests audited against the Forest Stewardship Council standard. |
| PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) | The wood or paper is certified under a national forestry scheme that PEFC endorses. |
| OPRL — Recycle / Don't Recycle (UK) | Whether this specific component is collected by most UK councils. |
| Triman (France) | In France, this product or packaging is subject to sorting rules and must not go in the general waste. |
| Estimated sign (℮) | The quantity is an average across the batch, checked under the EU average-quantity system. |
Common questions
- What does the aluminium recycling (alu) symbol mean?
- The item is aluminium and can be recycled as aluminium.
- What does it look like?
- Two curved arrows chasing each other around the letters "alu", or the word ALU inside a Mobius loop.
Related pages
- Recyclable steel The item is steel — usually tinplate — and is separated magnetically for recycling.
- Glass recycling (bottle bank) symbol Take this glass to a bottle bank or glass collection.
- OPRL — Recycle / Don't Recycle (UK) Whether this specific component is collected by most UK councils.
- Mobius loop (chasing arrows) The producer claims the item can be recycled — not that it will be, and not that your council collects it.
- Mobius loop with a percentage The pack contains that percentage of recycled material.
- Green Dot (Der Grüne Punkt) The producer paid into a national packaging recovery scheme. It does not mean the pack is recyclable, recycled, or made of recycled material.
- Tidyman Dispose of this thoughtfully. It has nothing to do with recycling.
- Glass recycling (bottle bank) symbol Take this glass to a bottle bank or glass collection.
- Recyclable steel The item is steel — usually tinplate — and is separated magnetically for recycling.
- Compostable seedling (EN 13432) Certified to break down in an industrial composting facility — not in a home heap, a bin or the environment.
- Home compostable Certified to break down in an ordinary garden compost heap at ambient temperature.
- FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) The wood or paper comes from forests audited against the Forest Stewardship Council standard.
- PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) The wood or paper is certified under a national forestry scheme that PEFC endorses.
Sources
- US Environmental Protection Agency — EPA (Public domain (US Government))