For release 02 March 2023

GOOD NEWS FOR CONSUMERS – ACCC REPORT ONLY THE BEGINNING FOR GREENWASHING REFORM

The Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) has welcomed the release of the ACCC’s ‘Greenwashing by businesses in Australia’, as a pivotal step to improving the green marketing mess that consumers face.

CPRC CEO, Erin Turner commended the new report from the regulator and said the findings from the ACCC are in-line with CPRC research released late last year.

“We are not surprised at the extent of and the type of issues with green claims identified by the ACCC.

“The report clearly demonstrates that Australian consumers are subjected to vague and unhelpful green claims. 

“This new work from the ACCC shows that the status quo isn’t working,” Turner said.

CPRC wants:

  • 1. Businesses to take action now by voluntarily removing unclear and unhelpful green claims from the market
  • 2. The ACCC to focus the update of their upcoming green claims guidance on improving trustmarks and labels, with specific guidance for specific sectors.
  • 3. The Federal Government to step in to stop the worst of greenwashing, for example, by banning misused phrases or introducing clear definitions for commonly used terms.

The worst and most unhelpful claims include generic statements that a consumer would have great difficulty understanding or using comparisons with another product.

Examples uncovered in CPRC’s research include:    

  • “Banking you can feel good about” – Suncorp
  • "Earth friendly” – SodaStream
  • “Designed for a cooler planet” – Philips

“We need much clearer rules for terms like ‘recyclable’ and ‘compostable’ and guides for how businesses should meaningfully talk about their climate transition plans.

“We would like to see the Australian Government consider a ban on vague and unhelpful green claims, similar to what the EU is currently exploring,” Turner said. 

More information, including CPRC’s research ‘The consumer experience of green claims in Australia’ is available at: cprc.org.au/green-claims.

CPRC CEO, Erin Turner is available for comment on request, contact media@cprc.org.au or ph: 0493 539 466.