Beware! Is your company greenwashing?

Greenwashing is the act of making false or misleading statements about the environmental benefits of a product or practice.

Greenwash impacts our industry. Many organisations urge their customers to go paperless with claims that electronic communications save trees, are “greener” and better for the environment. These misleading statements are hugely damaging to an UK industry that employs 116,000 people in more than 8,400 businesses. Greenwashing is costing the UK printing and postal industries an estimated £10 million per annum. Armed with the rules on green claims, and environmental facts from our industry, Two Sides challenges greenwash about going paperless, persuading companies making misleading environmental claims to desist.

Is our industry and your organisation guilty of Greenwashing?

Exaggerating environmental credentials or using vague and unsubstantiated terms like; Eco Friendly, Recyclable, Biodegradable, Green and with statements like; “Green printing that doesn’t cost the earth”, “Planet positive”, “Carbon Positive”, “Eco-friendly printing”, “The greenest printer in London”. These statements need to be underpinned by fact and detailed substantiation to avoid breaching rules on green claims.

Claims can be misleading if any information is untrue or hidden, if information is misrepresented, exaggerated or if it is taken out of context. Relative claims like ‘greener’ or ‘friendlier’ will require verifiable evidence that is accessible to the target audience.

Genuine green claims properly describe the impact of a product, brand, business or service, with credible evidence to back it up. Before making a green claim, businesses should understand how their product, brand or business has an impact –positively and negatively – on the environment for its whole life cycle.

What are the rules

When making green claims, businesses must comply with consumer protection law. If consumer protection law is breached, the CMA and other bodies may bring court proceedings. The CMA guidance sets out principles which are designed to help organisations comply with consumer protection law. For details visit: https://greenclaims.campaign.gov.uk/

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) can also act when misleading green claims appear in advertising. They evaluate green claims against the rules of the UK CAP Code, Section 11, Environmental Claims. For more information visit: asa.org.uk/type/non_broadcast/code_section/11.html

Tighter EU legislation is coming, NEW EU Green Claims legislation which will be adopted in the UK, will strengthen the rules and organisations could face fines of up to 4% of annual turnover.

Greenhushing

It may be tempting to avoid making any statements, but that is not the solution. Your customers and consumers should be reassured about the credibility of your products, commitment and the achievements your business has made. Our advice is:

• Follow industry standards for environmental performance, standards (eg. ISO14001, FSC) and convey them correctly?
• Review your website, marketing and company communications, and remove misleading statements
• Be aware of the rules and be guided by the 6 CMA green claims code principles:
  1. be truthful and accurate
  2. be clear and unambiguous
  3. do not omit or hide important relevant information
  4. comparisons must be fair and meaningful
  5. consider the full life cycle of products and services
  6. substantiate
• Ensure staff are aware and have access to the latest information
• Use fact-based information from credible sources as the foundation of your sustainability messaging

To find out facts on the sustainability of paper products and the wider resources Two Sides have to help the industry tell the great story of print, paper and paper packaging, visit www.twosides.info or email enquiries@twosides.info