It looks like a wheeled trash can with an “X” through it.
This is the second time I’ve come across this symbol in less than a week. My initial guess would be that it means something like “Don’t throw this away”, except the first time I saw it was on a little sticker on the back of my new Fender Jazz Bass Guitar - something I really don’t need to be told to not throw away
Although that makes it all the more confusing as to why the symbol appears on my new bass. I’m not sure how one would “improperly” dispose of this pricey musical instrument. Give it somebody who sucks?
It means “Do not toss this item in the garbage”. It’s the 'WEEE" (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) symbol, and it relates to EU legislation requiring recycling of electrical equipment. This and similar legislation regulating use of certain substance like lead and cadmium (“RoHS”, or Restriction of use of Hazardous Substances) in equipment and products sold into the EU, led the company I work for to completely redesign the products we make over the past few years.
The electrical components should probably not be thrown away in the regular trash. My guess is that you’re supposed to treat it like you would a monitor that no longer works…bringing it to your local recycling and/or solid waste management center.
Sort of. China has adopted similar rules (China RoHS), and apparently other jurisdictions as well.
Since Europe is so large a market for so many, a lot of companies decided to (re)design their products to meet the European regulations and sell only the new version worldwide; this was cheaper in the long run than maintaining multiple versions.
Even if the old versions were cheaper to sell, they still had to expend the resources to create the new version. And multiple versions meant more hassle internally.
The alternative was to lose the European market. I’m sure there were companies that preferred to abandon the European market rather than make the switch.
It’s an interesting example of ‘race to the top’ rather than ‘race to the bottom’.
That’s one possible interpretation. Another is that if you set it on the ground after a gig and someone backs the band van over it totally destroying it that it will still need to be recycled rather than just pitching it in the dumpster.
It’s still okay to leave the van driver in the dumpster though.
Unless you find one of those symbols tattoo’d on him.
