Tidyman (litter bin symbol)

How to read it

Tidyman, a figure dropping a piece of litter into a bin, is the trademark of Keep Britain Tidy, the UK anti-litter charity. Worcestershire County Council describes it as a reminder not to litter and to be considerate about how things are thrown away, and says brands print it in return for a fee to Keep Britain Tidy, which funds the charity’s work. It is not a recycling symbol: both Worcestershire’s recycling guide and Veolia’s Nottinghamshire guide say so.

Also searched as: do not litter symbol, Keep Britain Tidy symbol, litter bin symbol, person putting rubbish in bin symbol, Tidyman, tidy man symbol.

Tidyman or a recycling symbol?

The Möbius loop, three chasing arrows, shows that an item is capable of being recycled. The Green Dot shows that money has been paid to a national packaging recovery organisation, and doesn’t mean the pack is recyclable either. Tidyman says neither of these things; Worcestershire County Council says plainly that it isn’t a recycling symbol.

Its disputed origin

Keep Britain Tidy put Tidyman on bins and packaging across the UK in 1969, Mental Floss reports. The charity credits the design to Keep America Beautiful and the American Brewers Association, but when the consultant Peter Jones asked, neither had any record of creating it, and Budweiser, which helped fund their 1960s campaign, had no record of the logo before the 1970s. In 2017 the course provider Skillshare launched a public appeal to find who drew it. The charity had retired the figure for a few years and brought it back as its logo in February 2017, redrawn by Conran Design Group, according to The Drum.