Sign of the times

Date: 13/02/1997

The launch of the single currency in 1999 now looks likely to be overshadowed by the launch of another landmark - the EU's new recycling symbol.

Work is already under way, but word is that it could take until the end of the century for the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers to agree on a design which, at the moment, looks like an arrow chasing its own tail. The symbol is designed to go on consumer packaging to encourage us to buy goods wrapped in collectable, reusable containers.

But 1999 is just the start - governments will have another three years to apply the symbol. The trouble is that by then, the International Standards Organisation will almost certainly have developed its own recycling symbol, a world-wide model which will render the EU mark out of date before it is even launched.