Greenwashing UK fashion firms to be named and shamed by CMA

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating green / sustainability claims in the UK’s fashion industry for potential greenwash and will shortly publish a list naming and shaming the worst offenders. 

Claims being investigated by the CMA include: 

• unfair comparisons that individual items of clothing are “better for the environment” without qualifying how;
• claims about the use of recycled materials in new clothing; and 
• entire ranges of clothing within stores being branded as “sustainable”.

The CMA’s director of consumer protection, Cecilia Parker Aranha, is quoted as saying that: 

I was really sceptical about anybody that’s making a sweeping claim that a product is ‘eco’ or ‘sustainable’ because the business would be having to really show that every element of the product from production through to disposal will be good for the environment, not harmful to the environment. The other thing I would watch is if they say they’re ‘made with recycled fibres’. They are often only made with 16% to 20% recycled fibres. 

For those very generic general claims, most businesses won’t be in a position to prove that the product is good for the environment every step of the way. If you use the word ‘sustainable’, I think that really means that you have to be sustainable throughout the whole lifecycle." 

Some of Ms Aranha's comments above will be equally relevant to other sectors, in particular about "sustainable" meaning it has to be sustainable throughout the whole lifecycle from production through to disposal.

The CMA is concerned that misleading green claims could cause a loss of faith in sustainable products and lead to a competitive disadvantage for firms that are making genuine efforts.

The CMA will name the companies it considers to be the worst offenders and ask them to make changes. It warns that if the companies do not make changes, they could be taken to court.

The next sectors likely to be investigated by the CMA for greenwashing claims are the packaged food industry and supermarkets. 

For more information on the CMA's guidance on making green claims, see our previous blog posts:

• UK CMA publishes Green Claims Code to combat ‘greenwashing’.
• UK: Advertising regulators publish new guidance on misleading environmental claims.