Page 3 - Packaging News magazine March_April 2023

Will it all come out in the wash?
GREENWASHING IS ANYTHING but clean or green. It’s a dirty practice. It’s also insidious. It has crept into market- ing spin and onto packaging like the proverbial thief in the night, while we weren’t watching, or worse yet, while we were turning a blind eye.
The Merriam Webster diction- ary defines greenwashing as “the act or practice of making a product, policy, activity... appear to be more environmentally friendly or less envi- ronmentally damaging than it really is”.
As sustainability has moved up the corporate agenda, greenwashing has become evermore pervasive. It’s causing consumer confusion, sowing distrust, and undermining the hard-earned and properly substantiated claims of prod- ucts and packaging that are indeed a better environmental choice.
A recent internet sweep by consumer watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), found that 57 per cent of 247 businesses reviewed are making concerning and misleading claims on their packaging and websites about their environmental or sustainability practices.
[Greenwashing] has crept into marketing spin and on to packaging like the proverbial thief in the night, while we weren’t watching, or worse yet, while we were turning a blind eye.
A crackdown is looming and it’s high time. The biggest offenders are brands and companies hailing from the cos- metics, apparel, and food and beverage sectors. In the ACCC survey, the cos- metics sector stood out, with 73 per cent of all companies guilty of gre- enwashing. Ironically, it’s this sector where consumers most often express the desire for brands to step up on sustainability.
In its Greenwashing by Businesses in Australia report released in March, the ACCC says the most common issue identified is that companies are using vague or unclear environmental claims, with many businesses using terms like ‘green’, ‘kind to the planet’, ‘eco- friendly’, ‘responsible’ or ‘sustainable’ to describe their products on packaging and other platforms.
Such vague terms are confusing to consumers, as the companies con- cerned often provide no information quantifying these terms, and little to no evidence for the claims. While the claims may be accurate in some cases, without proper evidence provided, the ACCC says it is difficult to verify.
The ACCC report also high- lights a problem with green pledges. Companies reviewed were found to be setting environmental goals with- out clear plans for how these will be achieved. Many businesses also claimed affiliation with a variety of certification schemes, in ways which could be confusing to consumers. And then there’s the widespread use of logos and symbols that’s also caus- ing scepticism. Some businesses apply logo-like graphics of leaves, green- ery, or the planet to their packaging or websites, which appear to be trust marks but, in fact, are anything but trustworthy, with no association with any certification scheme.
Once you start looking at on-pack claims with a critical eye, it’s difficult not to be alarmed by the extent of the prob- lem. While the promise of a crackdown is welcome news, you have to wonder, will it all come out in the wash? ■
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