Five rules for sustainable clothing claims
On publishing the outcome of its investigation in the Netherlands into claims Decathlon and H&M were making about the sustainability of their products, the country’s Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) issued a warning to the entire apparel industry.
On this occasion, commitments to make improvements in their communication on product sustainability and the payment of €900,000 in donations to sustainable causes were enough to allow the two clothing groups to escape sanction from ACM. However, the organisation said: “ACM will continue to keep a close watch on the clothing sector [and] cannot rule out that, if it establishes a violation in the future, it will impose fines.”
It said it had seen “many potentially misleading sustainability claims” in the clothing sector and has asked clothing companies “to take a critical look at their claims”.
It has offered a set of guidelines to help companies communicate more accurately with consumers on this issue.
According to ACM, businesses that want to promote their products using sustainability claims must make sure that such claims are correct, clear, and verifiable to avoid misleading the public.
It has laid out five rules of thumb for any business that wants make sustainability claims about its products.
Companies must make clear what sustainability benefit their products offer. They must substantiate these claims with facts and keep the information up to date. Any comparisons they make with other products, services or companies must be fair. They must be honest and specific about their efforts with regard to sustainability. Finally, they must make sure that any visual representation of their claims and the labels they put on their products “are useful to consumers, not confusing”.
Commenting on ACM’s announcement on September 14, prominent sustainable fashion campaigner Livia Firth, likened corporate greenwashing to tax avoidance and said companies seemed to her to be making constant efforts to keep confusing consumers and “keep running away from transforming a business model that never worked and never will work”.
Image: Decathlon.
