It’s a circle with two arrows inside it, both kind of curling into each other (one light, one dark… very yin). I’m guessing it’s some sort of recycling symbol as I’ve seen it on a number of plastic products, but I’m curious what its significance is.
Should I be pleased or suspicious that it’s on my packet of Rizla?
eh, nevermind. (bottom of the page)
I’m really not happy with that ‘Benzene is generally considered a carcinogenic substance’ line under polystyrene and PETE on that webpage. That is true, but substances that contain benzene rings are not benzene. In fact, benzene is carcinogenic and poisonous largely because it does not have anything else attached to it. Other substances that contain benzene rings – toluene, for example, or styrene (from which polystyrene is made), and many, many others – are not necessarily carcinogenic. It’s true that dangerous compounds can form when PVC burns because of the chlorine that is released, but I can’t imagine that PETE or PS would release benzene when burned. Benzene burns readily to yield CO[sub]2[/sub] and water vapor. It’s also not possible that the benzene rings would spontaneously become detached, and even if they did the amount of benzene that would be released would be far below the amount required to cause any ill effects.
The German name for the symbol is der Grüne Punkt (website in German with link to English version at top right).