The new "greenwashing" regulation can be confusing for many, making it difficult to understand how companies can communicate the sustainability of their products in an honest and effective manner. At Circular Packing Solutions, we found it interesting to cross-reference this new European regulation ("Enabling sustainable choices and ending greenwashing" from europa.eu) with the FTC's Environmental Marketing Standard (www.ftc.gov; Section 260.4), which presents five illustrative examples to better understand the regulation and its application.
The "greenwashing" regulation refers to the practice of making misleading claims about the sustainability of a product or service in order to attract consumers seeking more sustainable products. This practice can confuse consumers and erode trust in the actual sustainability of products and services.
The FTC's Environmental Marketing Standard establishes clear guidelines on how companies can communicate the sustainability of their products in an honest and effective manner. The standard presents four guidelines for making statements about general environmental benefits and five examples to help companies apply these guidelines:
(a) It is deceptive to make direct or implied claims, that a product, package, or service offers a general environmental benefit.
(b) Unqualified claims of general environmental benefits are difficult to interpret and can convey a wide range of meanings.In many cases, such claims are likely to convey that the product, package, or service has specific and extensive environmental benefits and may imply that the item or service has no negative environmental impact. Since advertisers are unlikely to be able to substantiate all reasonable interpretations of such claims, they should not make unqualified general claims about environmental benefits.
(c) Advertisers can qualify general environmental benefit claims to avoid deception about the nature of the claimed environmental benefit. To avoid deception, advertisers must use clear and prominent language that limits the statement to specific benefits. Advertisers should not imply that a specific benefit is significant if it is, in fact, insignificant. If a qualified general claim conveys the idea that a product is more environmentally beneficial overall due to the alleged specific advantage(s), advertisers must analyze the resulting trade-offs from the advantage(s) to determine if they can substantiate this claim.
(d) Although a seller may explain and justify the specific environmental attributes of the product, this explanation will not adequately qualify a general environmental benefit claim if the advertisement implies deceptive claims. Therefore, advertisers must ensure that the context of the advertisement does not imply deceptive environmental claims.
Example 1:
The brand "environmentally friendly" probably conveys that the product has extensive environmental benefits and may imply that the product has no negative environmental impact. Since it is highly unlikely that the seller can substantiate these claims, the use of this brand is deceptive. A claim like "Eco-friendly: made with recycled materials" would not be deceptive if (1) the claim "made with recycled materials" is clear and prominent; (2) the advertiser can demonstrate that the entire product or package, excluding minor and incidental components, is made from recycled material; (3) manufacturing the product with recycled materials makes the product more beneficial to the environment overall; and (4) the context of the advertisement does not imply other deceptive claims.
Example 2:
A seller claims that their package is now "more eco-friendly than our previous package." The package weighs 15% less than the previous one but is neither recyclable nor improved in any other material aspect. The claim is deceptive because reasonable consumers are likely to interpret "more eco-friendly" in this context to mean that other significant environmental aspects of the package have also improved compared to the previous package. A claim that says "More eco-friendly than our previous package" accompanied by clear and prominent language such as "We have reduced the weight of our package by 15%" would not be deceptive as long as the weight reduction of the package makes the product more beneficial to the environment overall, and the context
Example 3:
The advertisement shows an image of a laser printer in a bird's nest balanced on a tree branch, surrounded by a dense forest. In green letters, the advertiser claims, "Buy our printer. Make a change." Although the advertisement does not explicitly state that the product has environmental benefits, the prominent images, combined with the text, likely convey that the product has significant environmental benefits and may imply that the product has no negative environmental impact. Since it is highly unlikely that the advertiser can substantiate these claims, this advertisement is misleading.
Example 4:
The website of a manufacturer claims, "Smart gas lawnmower with improved fuel efficiency!" The manufacturer increased the fuel efficiency by 1/10 of a percentage point. Although the manufacturer's claim of improved fuel efficiency is technically true, it is likely to convey the false impression that the manufacturer has significantly increased the fuel efficiency of the lawnmower.
Example 5:
A manufacturer reduces the weight of its plastic beverage bottles. The labels on the bottles say, "Environmentally-friendly improvement. 25% less plastic than our previous packaging." The plastic bottles are 25% lighter but otherwise unchanged. The advertisement conveys that the bottles are more beneficial to the environment overall due to the reduction in source material.
Companies must provide specific and verifiable information to support their general sustainability claims. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) can be useful in measuring the effectiveness and accuracy of strategies and processes, such as:
Sources:
eCFR :: 16 CFR 260.4 -- General environmental benefit claims.
Enabling sustainable choices and ending greenwashing (europa.eu)
The "greenwashing" regulation refers to the practice of making misleading claims about the sustainability of a product or service in order to attract consumers seeking more sustainable products. This practice can confuse consumers and erode trust in the actual sustainability of products and services.
The FTC's Environmental Marketing Standard establishes clear guidelines on how companies can communicate the sustainability of their products in an honest and effective manner. The standard presents four guidelines for making statements about general environmental benefits and five examples to help companies apply these guidelines:
(a) It is deceptive to make direct or implied claims, that a product, package, or service offers a general environmental benefit.
(b) Unqualified claims of general environmental benefits are difficult to interpret and can convey a wide range of meanings.In many cases, such claims are likely to convey that the product, package, or service has specific and extensive environmental benefits and may imply that the item or service has no negative environmental impact. Since advertisers are unlikely to be able to substantiate all reasonable interpretations of such claims, they should not make unqualified general claims about environmental benefits.
(c) Advertisers can qualify general environmental benefit claims to avoid deception about the nature of the claimed environmental benefit. To avoid deception, advertisers must use clear and prominent language that limits the statement to specific benefits. Advertisers should not imply that a specific benefit is significant if it is, in fact, insignificant. If a qualified general claim conveys the idea that a product is more environmentally beneficial overall due to the alleged specific advantage(s), advertisers must analyze the resulting trade-offs from the advantage(s) to determine if they can substantiate this claim.
(d) Although a seller may explain and justify the specific environmental attributes of the product, this explanation will not adequately qualify a general environmental benefit claim if the advertisement implies deceptive claims. Therefore, advertisers must ensure that the context of the advertisement does not imply deceptive environmental claims.
Example 1:
The brand "environmentally friendly" probably conveys that the product has extensive environmental benefits and may imply that the product has no negative environmental impact. Since it is highly unlikely that the seller can substantiate these claims, the use of this brand is deceptive. A claim like "Eco-friendly: made with recycled materials" would not be deceptive if (1) the claim "made with recycled materials" is clear and prominent; (2) the advertiser can demonstrate that the entire product or package, excluding minor and incidental components, is made from recycled material; (3) manufacturing the product with recycled materials makes the product more beneficial to the environment overall; and (4) the context of the advertisement does not imply other deceptive claims.
Example 2:
A seller claims that their package is now "more eco-friendly than our previous package." The package weighs 15% less than the previous one but is neither recyclable nor improved in any other material aspect. The claim is deceptive because reasonable consumers are likely to interpret "more eco-friendly" in this context to mean that other significant environmental aspects of the package have also improved compared to the previous package. A claim that says "More eco-friendly than our previous package" accompanied by clear and prominent language such as "We have reduced the weight of our package by 15%" would not be deceptive as long as the weight reduction of the package makes the product more beneficial to the environment overall, and the context
Example 3:
The advertisement shows an image of a laser printer in a bird's nest balanced on a tree branch, surrounded by a dense forest. In green letters, the advertiser claims, "Buy our printer. Make a change." Although the advertisement does not explicitly state that the product has environmental benefits, the prominent images, combined with the text, likely convey that the product has significant environmental benefits and may imply that the product has no negative environmental impact. Since it is highly unlikely that the advertiser can substantiate these claims, this advertisement is misleading.
Example 4:
The website of a manufacturer claims, "Smart gas lawnmower with improved fuel efficiency!" The manufacturer increased the fuel efficiency by 1/10 of a percentage point. Although the manufacturer's claim of improved fuel efficiency is technically true, it is likely to convey the false impression that the manufacturer has significantly increased the fuel efficiency of the lawnmower.
Example 5:
A manufacturer reduces the weight of its plastic beverage bottles. The labels on the bottles say, "Environmentally-friendly improvement. 25% less plastic than our previous packaging." The plastic bottles are 25% lighter but otherwise unchanged. The advertisement conveys that the bottles are more beneficial to the environment overall due to the reduction in source material.
Companies must provide specific and verifiable information to support their general sustainability claims. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) can be useful in measuring the effectiveness and accuracy of strategies and processes, such as:
- Claims of recycled materials: Companies must provide specific and verifiable information about the quantity and percentage of recycled materials used.
- Claims of biodegradability: Companies must provide specific and verifiable information about the time and conditions of their products' biodegradation.
- Claims of renewable energy: Companies must provide specific and verifiable information about the quantity and percentage of renewable energy used.
- Claims of carbon footprint: Companies must provide detailed and verifiable information about the methodology used to calculate the carbon footprint.
Sources:
eCFR :: 16 CFR 260.4 -- General environmental benefit claims.
Enabling sustainable choices and ending greenwashing (europa.eu)