Clorox fined for “misleading” ocean plastic claims in home care products
Australia’s Federal Court has sentenced Clorox Australia (Clorox) to pay a penalty of AU$8.25 million (US$5.24 million) for making “false or misleading” representations to consumers by stating that certain Glad kitchen and garbage bags were partly made of recycled ocean plastic. The fine follows legal action by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC).
The Glad Products Company, owned by Clorox, is a US company specializing in bin bags and food storage containers.
Clorox reportedly admitted to the Federal Court that between June 2021 and July 2023, it “breached the Australian Consumer Law” by stating on the packaging of its Glad tidy and garbage bags “to be green 50% Ocean Plastic Recycled” when the court found that this was “not the case.”
The Glad Products Company supplied more than 2.2 million products in this packaging over the two year period.
“Claims about environmental benefits matter to many consumers and may impact their purchasing behavior. When those claims are false or misleading, this is a serious breach of trust and the Australian Consumer Law,” says ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb.
“This is also a significant matter because consumers have limited or no ability to independently verify the accuracy of the claims made on packaging, and it also disadvantages competitors who are accurately communicating their environmental credentials.”
Packaging Insights reached out to Clorox for comment but has not yet received an answer.
The Glad packaging of its large and extra-large garbage bags included the statements “50% Ocean Plastic Recycled Garbage Bags,” and “Made using 50% Ocean Bound Plastic” around an image of a wave, overlaid on an image of a blue coloured waste disposal bag (Image credit: ACCC).
Accurate consumer information demanded
The ACCC says that the products were made from approximately 50% plastic waste which had been collected from communities in Indonesia. The waste came from up to 50 km from a shoreline, and from non-recycled plastic, processing aid and dye.
“We consider this penalty is appropriate in this case where Clorox gave insufficient consideration to what ‘ocean plastic’ meant to an ordinary consumer, particularly in light of the blue color and wave imaging on the packaging,” explains Cass-Gottlieb.
The Federal Court found that these features “connoted a relationship between the products and the ocean” and the “reference to ‘green’ on the packaging connoted environmental-friendliness,” and that these were “important contextual matters in assessing the contravening conduct.”
Furthermore, the court found that “particular societal harm arises when conduct undermines consumers’ confidence in environmental claims,” adding that the “development of products that minimize adverse environmental impacts is beneficial, but environmental claims are useful for consumers only if they are accurate.”
Businesses must provide clarity
Clorox has reportedly been ordered to establish an Australian Consumer Law compliance program, publish a corrective notice on its website, and pay part of the ACCC’s legal costs.
“While the ACCC encourages businesses to innovate and offer environmentally sustainable products, businesses need to be clear and accurate when making representations about them. We take allegations of greenwashing extremely seriously and will continue to monitor claims made by businesses and, where appropriate, will take enforcement action on misleading environmental claims,” says Cass-Gottlieb.
The ACCC says that Clorox cooperated with the commission during its investigation and the legal proceedings, made admissions, and agreed to make joint submissions with the ACCC to the Federal Court, including on the penalty.
Clorox is said to have discontinued the products in July 2023, after it became aware the ACCC had started investigating, but before the ACCC commenced these proceedings.
