Theme 1 — Getting oriented

The distinctions used throughout the library

A symbol on packaging is not self-explanatory. The same drawing may be a mandatory instruction in one market, a voluntary certification mark in another, and a restricted environmental claim in a third. Some marks only record that a fee has been paid, or that a material has been identified. Neither function establishes that the package is recyclable, compostable or environmentally preferable. This section keeps those statements separate.

The articles also explain where authority comes from. Legislatures and regulators can impose duties and prohibitions. Standards bodies define test methods and terminology. Certification bodies verify conformity. Producer-responsibility organisations administer systems. Private scheme owners license trademarks. Their decisions may interact. They are not interchangeable. The section therefore asks both what a mark says, and who is entitled to make that statement consequential.

Finally, the section provides a repeatable way to compare markets. It names the questions that determine a labelling regime, explains why a single global recyclability label remains structurally difficult, and supplies the vocabulary, symbol guide and historical account used in the rest of the Atlas.