What is the Green Dot?

The Green Dot is a registered trademark and owned by Duales System Deutschland GmbH (DSD), and whose rights are granted for use in Europe (except Germany) to Packaging Recovery Organisation Europe (PRO-Europe) s.p.r.l.  The Green Dot trademark is protected in more than 170 countries and is the most widely used trademark in the world.

The trademark is NOT a recycling symbol. In Europe the Green Dot is a recognized symbol of financial contribution to a national packaging recovery company established in accordance with the European Packaging Directive for packaging waste and national law. Applying the symbol on packaging signifies the producer of the packaging has made a financial contribution towards recycling that packaging.

In North America (Canada, United States, and Mexico) the Green Dot is not used as a compliance mark or recycling mark but is still a registered and protected trademark. Any company who markets or distributes products sold in North America that carries the Green Dot trademark on the product packaging must pay a license fee to Green Dot North America™.