Moebius loop on the package: what is it?

And do you know what information you can get aboutproduct, based only on its packaging? Even if everything is written on it with the help of hieroglyphics. It's okay if you do not know the meaning of any of them. Anyway, you will understand pictorial drawings. They are there for that and painted, so that information can be read and understood in all corners of the globe.

So, if you see a glass on the box, it means that the fragile goods are inside, and if the flame rages on the icon, the contents of the box are flammable.

And what do these signs mean?

This pictograph draws a famous ribbonor the Möbius loop. It is a mathematical paradox, because it is a one-sided surface. Yes, yes - she only has one side. You can see for yourself if you take it in hand. Make a Möbius loop simply - take a strip of paper, about 30 cm long and 1.5 cm wide.

Turn one end of it 180 degrees andglue to another. To make sure that she really has one side, put a pencil exactly in the middle of the tape and guide the line without taking it from the paper. After a while you will rest against the beginning of your line. You did not turn over the paper, the pencil was not torn from it, and the line was connected, therefore, the Möbius loop really has only one side, and your eyes are just deceiving you. In general, to explore it is very interesting. Try to cut it along a pencil line - you will get connected rings together.

But this excursion into the jungle of mathematical paradoxesdoes not at all explain what the Möbius loop does on the packaging. This sign means that the packaging itself is made of a material that can be recycled. If there are numbers from 1 to 7 inside the pictograph, they indicate the name of the material from which the packaging is made. In order of increasing numbers, they mean: polyethylene terephthalate, high-density polyethylene, PVC, polypropylene, polystyrene or other plastic. Sometimes, instead of letters, capital Latin letters can be used, which denote the same thing.

It can also happen that instead of letters or simplydigits from 1 to 7 inside the loop, or below it will be indicated some value in percentage. In this case, the Möbius loop tells how much of this package contains recycled raw materials. Why is this picture chosen? This is easy to explain. Arrows indicate that the cycle of manufacture and processing passes into itself, that is, it is closed.

Generally, the setting of this sign is notis regulated by any legislative requirements and is put exclusively at the request of the manufacturer. But in light of the fact that the environment is now struggling at an accelerated pace, almost all packaging materials used in industry are subject to recycling. So do not be surprised if you meet the Möbius loop on the Tetra Pak package or on a plastic bottle. They have really learned how to recycle, in spite of the fact that earlier they were considered unfit for re-use.

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