Retailers should be forced to introduce binary labeling to clearly inform consumers whether a product is recyclable or not, amid widespread confusion, two industry leaders had said.

Stuart Lendrum, Head of Packaging at Iceland, told the Environment Food and Rural Affairs committee that the government must introduce laws to simplify the current system which uses dozens of symbols, most of which the public does not understand.

Karen Graley, Packaging Manager at Waitrose, agreed that the government should legislate.

“Absolutely, we'd support that, moving to a binary label as soon as possible so we make it easier for consumers to understand what to do with the material and a piece of packaging,” she told MPs.

The comments were made as part of the select committee's inquiry into 'Plastic food and drink packaging'.

The Telegraph recently launched a Zero Waste campaign calling on the government, local councils and private companies to do more to boost the country’s recycling rates and make the process simpler.

The UK has no national strategy for recycling with local authorities accepting a variety of materials and processing them in different ways, which means some households are able to recycle specific items when others are not.