FTC Issues Revised Green Guides For Environmental Attribute Claims

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently issued revised "Green Guides" that are designed to help marketers ensure that the claims they make about the environmental attributes of their products are truthful and non-deceptive. FTC has modified and clarified sections of the previous Guides and provided new guidance on environmental claims that were not common when the Guides were last reviewed.

Among other modifications, the Guides caution marketers not to make broad, unqualified claims that a product is "environmentally friendly" or "eco-friendly" because the FTC's consumer perception study confirms that such claims are likely to suggest that the product has specific and far-reaching environmental benefits. The revised Guides advise marketers not to make an unqualified degradable claim for a solid waste product unless they can prove that the entire product or package will completely break down and return to nature within one year after customary disposal.

The FTC cautions that items destined for landfills, incinerators, or recycling facilities will not degrade within a year, so marketers should not make unqualified degradable claims for these items; and clarify guidance on compostable, ozone, recyclable, recycled content, and source reduction claims.The Guides also contain new sections on Certifications and seals of approval; carbon offsets; free-of claims; non-toxic claims; made with renewable energy claims; and made with renewable materials claims.

The FTC first issued its Green Guides in 1992 to help marketers avoid making misleading environmental claims. It revised the Guides in 1996 and 1998, and proposed further revisions in October 2010 to take into account recent changes in the marketplace. The guidance they provide includes:

• General principles that apply to all environmental marketing claims;
• How consumers are likely to interpret particular claims, and how marketers can substantiate these claims; and
• How marketers can qualify their claims to avoid deceiving consumers.

FTC says the revised Guides issued take into account nearly 340 unique comments and more than 5,000 total comments received since the FTC released the proposed revised Guides in the fall of 2010. They also include information gathered from three public workshops and a study of how consumers perceive and understand environmental claims.

The Green Guides are not agency rules or regulations, but describe the types of environmental claims the FTC may or may not find deceptive under Section 5 of the FTC Act. Under Section 5, the agency can take enforcement action against deceptive claims, which ultimately can lead to Commission orders prohibiting deceptive advertising and marketing and fines if those orders are later violated.


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