FTC taps new rules for environmental packaging of items - Federal Trade Commission

Discount Store News, August 17, 1992

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Truth in advertising is as popular in environmental packaging and merchandise as it is in other consumer products.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued guidelines late last month that are intended to reduce consumer confusion on what is and is not environmentally sound product and packaging claims. The new guidelines also are intended to prevent false or misleading environmental terms such as "recyclable," "degradable," and "environmentally friendly" from advertising and product labeling if they cannot be substantiated.

"Our goal is to protect consumers and to bolster their confidence in environmental claims, and to reduce manufacturers' uncertainty about which claims might lead to FTC law enforcement actions, thereby encouraging marketers to produce and promote products that are less harmful to the environment," said FTC chairman Janet D. Steiger during a Congressional hearing on July 28 to present the guidelines.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the U.S. Office of Consumer Affairs (USOCA) endorsed the FTC guidelines as helpful to consumers and marketers.

However, the guidelines do not go far enough, said Dr. Richard Denison of the EDF, calling them a "good first step." He said he now looks to both the EPA and Congress, which has legislation pending on tightening up laws concerning environmental claims, to adopt tougher regulatory definitions and standards. The release of the new FTC guidelines provide a timely backdrop for this issue of DSN which includes "Retailing and the Environment."

The new guidelines "will help provide environmentally conscious consumers with more reliable information, ensuring the use of accurate, specific claims and discouraging those that are vague, trivial and overstated," said EPA administrator William K. Reilly.

Soon to be published in the Federal Register, the guidelines do not rigidly define environmental terms and are not legally enforceable by themselves. However, they are enforcable under the FTC Act of 1914, specifically section five, that prohibits unfair and deceptive marketplace practices, explained FTC spokeswoman Bonnie Jansen.

The FTC guidelines are not laws but administrative interpretations of laws and intended to guide marketers in conforming with legal requirements. They do not preempt, state or local laws or regulations, the FTC stated.

Essentially, the guidelines provide an interpretation of what a consumer is likely to believe based on product or packaging claims, said Jansen, noting that the guidelines are written as examples of claims that are both truthful and deceptive based on a consumer's likely interpretation of a claim.

The EDF provided the following examples of the effect of the FTC guides: a weed killer in a paperboard box with the recycling arrows with no explanation would now be considered deceptive; a product made of organic materials would be allowed to claim that it is compostable where municipal solid waste composting facilities exist; and a reformulated product that has been reformulated to use less packaging material and therefore contributes less garbage to landfills may make that claim.

Copies of the guidelines and other related materials are available from the FTC Public Reference Branch at (202) 326-2222.

According to a summary of the FTC Environmental Marketing Guidelines the following are examples of the new guides: * Claims comparing the environmental attributes of one product over another should be clear and substantiated. * Unless they can be substantiated, broad environmental claims should be avoided or qualified. * Degradable, biodegradable and photodegradable claims should be substantiated by evidence that the product will completely break down and return to nature. * Compostable claims must be substantiated and qualified to the extent necessary to avoid consumer deception. * Recyclable product or packaging claims should not be made unless the item can be collected, separated, or otherwise recovered from the solid waste stream and reused to make another product. * Recycled content should only be stated for materials that have been recovered or diverted from the solid waste stream, either during the manufacturing process or after it. * Source reduction claims should taste the weight, volume or toxicity savings to avoid consumer deception. * Refillable claims should not be made unless a system of collection and return of the package for refill is provided. * Ozone safe and ozone friendly claims would be deceptive if the product contains any ozone-depleting chemical.