Unilever has told Packaging News that it will not be signing up to the British Retail Consortium's on-pack recycling logo, following the news that its FMCG rival Procter & Gamble ruled out joining the scheme.

The global brand owner cited the impracticalities of joining a UK-only labelling initiative.

"We fully support the intentions of the BRC to raise consumers' awareness of recycling with this initiative," a Unilever spokesman said. "However, as a multinational FMCG company with brands present in dozens of different markets, it would not be appropriate for us to join a scheme which focused solely on the UK.

"Nevertheless, we are currently investigating ways we can further promote the recyclability of our product packaging, both in the UK and internationally."

Earlier this week, the BRC announced its labelling would be rolled out across 50,000 product lines. Fifty brand owners and retailers have signed up to carry the UK's first standardised label for packaging recycling since it was officially launched seven months ago, following trials with various companies, including Asda, since late 2007.

The BRC said it is well on track to achieve its target of 60 signatories in the first year, but a number of global brand owners are unlikely to sign up because their products are not packaged specifically for the UK.