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 05.02.2025

The Green Dot is not an eco-label

The Green Dot is a symbol that you’ll find on most containers and packaging in Europe that identifies the person responsible for the collection and disposal of that waste. It does not tell you anything about differentiating characteristics in environmental terms or the sustainability of the product.

It indicates that the company manufacturing or distributing the product’s packaging pays recycling plants to manage the packaging as a way of reducing the environmental impact. The Punto Verde is Spain’s equivalent to the Green Dot and is managed through two public companies: ECOEMBES , which obtains the packaging through the selective collection of the yellow (plastic-metals) and blue (paper-cardboard) containers it operates, and ECOVIDRIO, which manages the collection of green (glass) containers.

Eco-labels are a completely different matter. These marks help consumers identify products, materials or services that have been produced based on environmental criteria. Eco-labels provide information on the origin of the raw material, the manufacturing process, the proximity or ease of repair, and the design. There are also specific labels that tell you about the social and human rights commitments of a producer.
Eco-labels promote environmental and social values and stand for business values and consumer principles. The Green Dot merely states that the waste will be treated in a recycling plant.