New guidance from the CMA aimed at tackling 'Greenwashing'
New guidance from the CMA aimed at tackling ‘Greenwashing’
In May this year the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK set out draft guidance on how organisations should make environmental claims, and how misleading claims could be breaking the law. Eurofins | BLC technical services can ensure you are meeting these proposed requirements and provide the evidence to back up any environmental claims in line with the new guidance.
The move from the CMA follows an analysis of the impact of ‘green marketing’ on consumers and a study that found that 40% of green claims made online could be misleading. The objective is to ensure businesses are making accurate environmental claims and not misleading consumers through ‘greenwashing’. By working with Eurofins | BLC we can act as your technical partner to ensure your public statements are credible and fact-based meaning that your consumers can be confident in your product when making a purchase.
The proposed guidance sets out 6 principles that environmental claims should follow.
*They:
- must be truthful and accurate: Businesses must live up to the claims they make about their products, services, brands and activities.
- must be clear and unambiguous: The meaning that a consumer is likely to take from a product’s messaging and the credentials of that product should match.
- must not omit or hide important information: Claims must not prevent someone from making an informed choice because of the information they leave out.
- must only make fair and meaningful comparisons: Any products compared should meet the same needs or be intended for the same purpose.
- must consider the full life cycle of the product: When making claims, businesses must consider the total impact of a product or service. Claims can be misleading where they do not reflect the overall impact or where they focus on one aspect of it but not another.
- must be substantiated: Businesses should be able to back up their claims with robust, credible, and up to date evidence.
*Source: Competition and Markets Authority, May 2021
Eurofins | BLC testing and sustainability consulting offers a suite of services that you can use to adhere to the above guiding principles when making public environmental claims; Our material performance and chemical testing provides clear evidence of adherence to chemical compliance legislation; Bespoke testing such as biodegradability and microplastic release will give you referenced evidence on the end of life performance of your product; Our supply chain mapping service can help you determine the origin of raw materials in your product and manage environmental and social compliance risks up your supply chain; by working with our Sustainability Consultancy team we can support you to craft consumer facing messages that both accurately reflect the environmental performance of your product and clearly promote any green credentials you have been working on delivering.
For more information on how we can support you to avoid greenwashing and adhere to the new CMA guidance, please contact the Eurofins | BLC team on [email protected]
23 June 2021