Packaging

Member lesson

Sustainability claims and greenwashing

Lesson 19 of 20 in Packaging.

What is greenwashing? - BBC News · BBC News
Lesson

Environmental claims on packaging have moved from a marketing question to a regulatory one. Several jurisdictions have tightened the rules considerably, advertising regulators have upheld complaints against large companies, and vague claims are now a legal exposure rather than a soft reputational risk.

An oversized windowed box with a tray, empty air and a big green leaf sits beside a snug plain box holding the same bottle, with dotted arrows showing the window, tray and extra card falling into a heap.
A leaf printed on an oversized box with a window and tray changes nothing. The snug box beside it dropped the window, tray and extra card, a claim anyone can check.
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Members answer these 3 questions and keep the ticket for this lesson. Every lesson has one.

  1. Question 1, locked

    A pack carries the word recyclable, and no local authority where it sells will collect it. What is the problem?

    • Nothing, since the word describes the material rather than the collection service
    • Recyclable means capable of being recycled where facilities exist, so on a pack nobody local collects it is arguably misleading
    • The word is fine but it needs a recycled-content percentage printed beside it
    • Biodegradable would have been the safer word, since it carries no collection requirement
  2. Question 2, locked

    Which of these words means this? “An environmental claim the product or company does not support.”

    • Barrier
    • Greenwashing
    • Magnification
    • Front of pack
  3. Question 3, locked

    Which of these words means this? “Can be recycled where facilities exist. Not the same as will be recycled.”

    • Batch code
    • Back of pack
    • Unboxing
    • Recyclable

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