Defra acts to ensure truthful 'green claims'

The Government has taken action over spurious 'green claims' made by manufacturers.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has updated its Green Claims code. This should help ensure consumers aren’t tricked into buying products labelled environmentally friendly, but which have not been officially validated by Defra.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has seen a surge in complaints about green adverts in recent years. The watchdog said it received 561 complaints about environmental claims in 2007, up from fewer than 150 in 2006.

In its annual Greener Products survey Greenpeace also found “the electricity industry still has a way to go before they can claim a truly green product.” It said “No product scored high enough across all areas to deserve the accolade of a truly 'green product'.”

Lord Philip Hunt, Minister for Sustainable Development, said: “Consumers are often confronted with all sorts of ‘green’ claims by companies and products.

“Working with industry and updating the ‘Green Claims’ Code will support business to ensure that their claims are genuine and meaningful. It will also reassure consumers that when a green claim is made, they can feel confident it is truthful.”

Defra will require companies to provide “convincing evidence that their product will cause no environmental damage when taking into account the full life cycle of the product.”

To ensure the rules are as up to date as possible Defra has put together a steering board with representatives from industry bodies, such as the Voice of British Advertisers, the Office of Fair Trading and the Advertising Association.

The update to the code has been supported by Canon and Epson, which both currently sell products with Energy Saving Recommended labelling. This is a Government approved energy efficient logo.