Everything biodegrades: UK advertising authority prepares a fresh crackdown on misleading waste claims

07 Dec 2023 --- The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has implemented new guidelines on green disposal claims, following consumer research showing public confusion over claims like “biodegradable” and “compostable.” From now on, such claims will have to be substantiated on labels in a number of ways. 

As of January 2024, all “green disposal” marketing will have to specify exactly to which product parts the claim relates, how long it takes for a product to fully biodegrade or compost and information about the disposal process, (if it is likely to differ from the average consumer’s expectations). 

Information about harmful by-products produced during the disposal process must also be detailed. 

Biodegradability is a controversial term, particularly among scientists who point out that everything biodegrades on a long enough time scale. Even when materials biodegrade rapidly, it does not mean no end-of-life solution is needed — as with sewage. 

All packaging companies now have a “period of grace,” says the ASA, before it begins “proactively investigating potentially problematic claims that could lead to litigation.”

Consumer confusion 
The ASA’s decision to update its guidelines is prompted by a study of 60 in-depth interviews with British consumers about their understanding, expectations, habits and opinions on household waste disposal. 

On a long enough timescale, everything biodegrades.Key findings included: 

• People are engaged with green disposal at home, usually in the form of regular recycling collections. They’re proud of their efforts and see waste management as a way of helping the environment. 
• Participants were most focused on how they dispose of waste at home and felt it was unfair to ask them to do more outside the home, such as taking recycling to collection points.
• Participants broadly treated green claims in ads uncritically. This blind acceptance leads to fundamental misunderstandings about waste disposal. 
• People are likely to understand “recycling” or “recycled” but are much more confused about “compostable,” the study notes. 
• Participants were also most unsure about the term “biodegradable” and “expressed anger and frustration when they learned that this term could refer to an unlimited timescale and that some products can release toxins upon degrading.” 

“There were widespread calls for stronger transparency about the length of time a product that’s described as ‘biodegradable’ takes to degrade, as well as specific disposal risks.” 

Participants also emphasized the importance of having clearer information on disposal of product parts and where products need to be taken to be responsibly disposed,” says the ASA. 

“Oxobiodegradle” and “home compostable” 
This year, a study review found that pro-oxidant-containing additives (PAC), commonly called oxo biodegradables, which are supposed to speed up the degradation rate of plastics without harming the environment, are unsubstantiated by sufficient evidence in real-world, ambient environments. 

Some countries, such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, have made PACs mandatory for plastic products in the misguided belief they will rapidly and harmlessly biodegrade in the desert. 

Also this year, a study of 9,700 British consumers found that the vast majority of products carrying a “home compostable” claim on them did not live up to their claims. The study also found confusion around “industrially compostable” claims and often simply no claim at all. 

By Louis Gore-Langton