GREENWASHING

Businesses making claims about their positive environmental impact in relation to products, services or operations have to provide greater transparency to avoid greenwashing, since ‘Green Claims Code’ published by CMA (Competitions & Markets Authority) came into force in January 2022.

The Code is designed to help businesses understand and comply with their existing obligations under consumer protection law when making sustainability claims.

As consumer demand for sustainable and ethical business practices has grown in recent years (57% of UK consumers are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products according to YouGov), more and more companies are making claims about their eco-credentials - presenting their products, services, processes brands or operations as better for the planet than their competitors, and even hiding crucial information to give the impression that they are less harmful or more beneficial to the environment. 

A recent global review by the CMA found that 40% of green claims made online could be misleading consumers. These included:

• Vague claims and unclear language - terms such as ‘eco’ or ‘sustainable’ or reference to ‘natural products’ without adequate explanation or evidence

• Own brand eco logos not associated with accredited third-party organisations

• Hiding or omitting certain information (such as a product’s pollution levels) to appear more eco friendly

Environmental claims that don’t comply could face penalties from regulatory bodies and even face legal action from consumers themselves, who can bring companies to court for certain breaches of consumer protection law. 

It’s worth highlighting that the CMA has flagged businesses involved in textiles, fashion, travel, transport and fast-moving consumer goods as priority industries, so it’s likely that their investigations will start here, because these are the sectors where consumers currently appear to be most concerned about misleading eco claims.

The Green Claims Code applies to UK companies and all businesses that sell to consumers in the UK (even if they’re based abroad).

What happens if the Green Claims Code is breached?

Any business found to be in breach of consumer law, including misleading marketing claims, can face civil action or criminal prosecution. Breach of the Green Claims Code could therefore result in criminal liability for directors and other officers of corporate bodies. Consumers also have a civil right of redress which might result in financial liabilities. 

Greenwashing can also damage your brand, reputation and sales.

3 steps to comply with the Green Claims Code:

1 - Conduct a comms audit

To de-risk your sustainability communications, it’s vital to start with an audit of your existing claims at brand and product level. Begin by stress-testing your published marketing communications against the CMA’s recommendations. If you haven’t yet read the full guidance, these fall into six key principles:

1.     Claims must be truthful and accurate

2.     Claims must be clear and unambiguous

3.     Claims must not omit or hide important information

4.     Claims must only make fair and meaningful comparisons

5.     Claims must consider the full life cycle of the product

6.     Claims must be substantiated

2 - Focus on integrity and compliance will follow

For many brands, complying with the Green Claims Code will require a significant shift in mindset. To protect public reputation and avoid regulatory penalties, brands need to commit fully to integrity, and must no longer leave compliance to their legal counterparts. Those approaching the task with an attitude of “what can we get away with?” will soon pay the price.

As CMA calls for both truth and accuracy, it’s not enough for claims to be factually correct – they must also give consumers an accurate impression of the environmental impact. The regulator’s call to consider the entire lifecycle of products means brands who have until now overemphasised minor positives in their supply chains will need to rework their strategy.

3 - Think 360°

The Green Claims Code also calls for a channels rethink. Consider building bridges between product, sustainable standards, marketing, and everything in between, such as labels, packaging, printed information, and all comms channels (including press releases). A vital aspect of the guidance is the sheer depth of sustainability information that brands need to provide. To ensure that claims are indeed ‘clear and unambiguous’, brands have a duty to educate consumers on certifications and claims. With clear instructions to consider the entire lifecycle of products and include all information that might inform a shopper’s purchase, complying with the Green Claims Code will rely on smart use of packaging and ecommerce.

The Green Claims Code specifically encourages brands to surface sustainability information via QR codes, and for sharing sustainability content online, the CMA recommends that information should be made available by a single click through a link. It’s therefore time to reconsider minimalist /simplistic approaches such as static ‘green’ icons often used by e-commerce brands. 

FOOTWEAR RELATED GREENWASHING

We often spot misleading and exaggerated claims across the board, from both large and small shoe brands and even start-ups who seem to be building sustainable practices from the ground up. To help identify problematic green claims, we have compiled a few examples below:

“100% Natural Latex Sole”

Some brands state “Natural Latex Sole” without mentioning the actual ratio of Natural Latex.

To validate your claim, we recommend asking your sole supplier for a formal written tech sheet with clear components breakdown including the exact Natural Latex content.

According to well established sole producers we spoke with, its technically impossible to achieve a wearable, and reasonably durable sole that is made from 100% natural latex, partly because its natural form is liquid.

In order for the latex to solidify, preserved, and provide stability and durability, it is necessary to incorporate supplementary compounds in the mix such as fillers (for example soot, kaolin, chalk, lignin, diatomite, magnesia carbonic acid, talc, etc), vulcanizing substances (such as sulfur, selenium, tellurium, peroxides, amine compounds, resinous compounds, metal oxides and isocyanates), vulcanization accelerators and their activators, softeners, antioxidants, pore-forming agents, dyes and pigments, regenerates.

Usually, some petroleum-based rubber is added to provide better stability too.

So far, the highest natural latex content we found in a sole is 70%, but please do get in touch if you came across higher content.

“100% Recycled Rubber Sole”

 Some brands state “Recycled Rubber Sole” without mentioning the actual proportion of recycled content.

Again, we’d recommend asking your sole supplier for a formal written tech sheet with clear components breakdown including the exact Recycled Rubber content in order to validate your claim. 

Unless the sole is made from a cut-out of a car tire (in which case its reused in its original form and it can be regarded as fully recycled), very often shoe brands use de-vulcanised recycled rubber compound in moulding new soles. As recycled rubber quality tends to degrade in the mechano-chemical de-vulcanization process, its often mixed with virgin synthetic rubber in order to achieve adequate quality. The highest recycled rubber content we found in soles is 90%, but in order to achieve better durability, in most cases the recycled content is closer to 50%.

“100% Sustainable Shoes”

We were surprised to spot this highly questionable claim quite a few times.

How exactly do you define 100% sustainable? Does it mean that this product reached the highest possible standard? And which certification body validated this claim?

As many sustainability experts have said - “Sustainability is a journey, not a destination”. This is partly because there is always room for improvement, especially at this relatively early stage of experimenting and exploring what the most sustainable shoe may look like. But if there was such a thing as “100% sustainable shoes”, we would expect them to be made from locally sourced 100% bio-based compounds, certified vegan, organic, solvent-free, plastic-free, ethically produced using renewable energy, durable and fully repairable, supported by a fully integrated circular economy business model, as well as being at the very least carbon neutral (if not carbon positive).

And if you want to go a step further, make them compostable too, just so you don’t have to rely on your customers to participate in your take-back scheme, you’ll still be covered as the shoes can be disposed of responsibly in any eventuality.   

“Biodegradable Shoes”

Biodegradability is an important environmental parameter for the assessment of organic substances and its decomposition and mineralization by microorganisms in the environment.

One factor in establishing how a product will degrade, is the environment they are placed in at its end of life, its therefore essential to conduct biodegradability testing, not only to validate your claim but also to determent under what conditions it will biodegrade and how long it takes to breakdown.

There are a number of biodegradability test methodologies since various matrices could serve as an end point material including, soil, compost, landfill and even aqueous based environments. The conditions of the environment including matrix composition and temperature will also influence the rate at which a product will breakdown. Also, materials (depending on the type of chemistry used in the production process) will likely degrade more quickly in a commercial composting facility where optimal processes are utilised to accelerate biodegradation.

Therefore, a simple “Biodegradable Shoes” blanket statement does not provide sufficient information.

Brands tend to assume that their shoes are biodegradable because the majority of the components are natural, but this is unlikely to be the case unless an accelerator bacterial agent is added in the shoemaking process to aid decomposition. Either way, only a laboratory test result can provide the required validation under the new CMA guidance.

As regulators begin to root out inaccurate and dishonest eco claims, transparent brands who walk the walk will benefit from a greater market advantage. Your investment in sustainability and ethical practices can become a strong commercial advantage if you fully commit to integrity and approach your comms strategy in the right way.