Federal Trade Commission

Bureau of Consumer Protection

Office of Consumer & Business Education

1-877-FTC-HELP www.ftc.gov

October 1999 1 2

Facts

for Business

Green claims can be found in manyadvertisements and labels today.

They're the marketing response to

consumers' increasing interest in protecting

the environment.

Institutional consumers also care about

buying "green." Indeed, the President of the

United States recently issued Executive

Orders encouraging federal procurement

officers to purchase recycled and

environmentally preferable products.

But what do green

claims really mean?

And when are they

considered misleading?

National guidelines issued by the Federal

Trade Commission (FTC), with the

cooperation of the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA), are available to

help companies make sure their green

claims don't run afoul of the law. The FTC

Act prohibits deceptive acts or practices,

including deceptive representations in

advertising, labeling, product inserts,

catalogs, and sales presentations.

What are the FTC Guides?

The FTC's Guides for the Use of

Environmental Marketing Claims

explain how the FTC Act is

enforced when it comes to environmental

claims. The Guides provide a framework

for the use of environmental advertising and

labeling claims in the marketplace: they

reduce consumer confusion, help establish a

level playing field for competition, and

reduce the legal risk for marketers. That's

important because increasingly, local and

state jurisdictions are relying on the Guides

for direction on enforcement.

The Guides recommend that marketers

qualify environmental claims that are broad

or vagueor avoid them altogether. For

example, broad claims like "environmentally

safe" or "environmentally friendly" should

be qualifiedor avoidedbecause they can

convey a wide range of meanings to

consumers that may be difficult to

substantiate.

Environmental

Marketing

Claims

RECYCLED

NON-TOXIC

DEGRADABLE

EARTH

SMART

An example of a substantiated

claim from the Guides

A paperboard package with 20%

recycled fiber by weight is labeled as

containing "20% recycled fiber."

Some of the recycled content was

composed of material collected from

consumers after use of the original

product. The rest was composed of

overrun newspaper stock never sold

to customers.

The claim is not deceptive.
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An example of a deceptive

claim from the Guides

A lawn care product is advertised as

"essentially non-toxic" and

"practically non-toxic." Consumers

would likely interpret these claims in

the context of such a product as

applying not only to human health

effects but also to the product's

environmental effects. Since the

claims would likely convey to

consumers that the product does not

pose any risk to humans or the

environment, if the pesticide in

fact poses a significant risk to

humans or environment,

the claims would be deceptive.

The Guides give examples of how

consumers may interpret various claims,

and identify the kinds of claims that should

be explained or qualified to avoid deception.

They provide specific guidance regarding

certain claims (recyclable, degradable,

compostable, recycled content, source

reduction, refillable, ozone friendly, nontoxic, and chlorine-free), but they do not

scientifically define environmental terms or

establish product performance standards.

Excerpt from the Guides on use of

terms "degradable,"

"biodegradable" and

"photodegradable"

It is deceptive to misrepresent, directly

or by implication, that a product or

package is degradable, biodegradable

or photodegradable. An unqualified

claim that a product or package is

degradable, biodegradable or photodegradable should be substantiated by

competent and reliable scientific

evidence that the entire product or

package will completely break down

and return to nature, that is, decompose

into elements found in nature within a

reasonable short period of time after

customary disposal.

Claims of degradability, biodegradability or photodegradability should be

qualified to the extent necessary to

avoid consumer deception about:

(a) the product or package's ability to

degrade in the environment where it is

customarily disposed; and (b) the rate

and extent of degradation.

Similarly, the claim "environmentally

preferable" should be carefully qualified (to

indicate the ways in which the product is

environmentally preferable), or avoided,

because it is likely to broadly convey to

consumers that a product is environmentally

superior to other products in all respects.

According to the Guides, marketers must be

able to substantiate the reasonable

interpretations that consumers draw from a

claim. Specific claims that are substantiated

can help consumers make informed

environmental decisions when they make

purchases.

The FTC and EPA

urge you to review

the FTC Guides, examine

your environmental claims,

and make any necessary

changes.
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Environmentally Preferable

Purchasing

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing

(EPP) promotes federal government use of

products and services that have reduced

impacts on human health and the

environment. Such purchases are required

by Executive Order 12873, Federal

Acquisition, Recycling, and Waste

Prevention. The Executive Order also

directed the EPA to develop guidance to

help federal agencies incorporate

environmental preferability into their

purchasing procedures.

How do I find out more?

For copies of the Guides, contact the

Consumer Response Center by phone:

toll-free at 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357);

TDD: 202-326-2502; by mail: Consumer

Response Center, Federal Trade

Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue,

NW, Washington, DC 20580. The Guides

also are available on the World Wide Web

at www.ftc.gov under the heading

"Consumer Protection" and the subheading

"Environment."

"Environmentally preferable

products are products and

services [that] have a lesser

or reduced effect on human

health and the environment

when compared to other

products and services that

serve the same purpose."

Executive Order 12873, Federal

Acquisition, Recycling, and Waste

Prevention, October 20, 1993.

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