ACCC publishes draft environmental and sustainability claims guidance

5th Sep 2023

The Australian competition watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has published draft guidance to improve the integrity of environmental and sustainability claims made by businesses and to protect consumers from greenwashing. They are seeking feedback from industry by 15 September.

The draft guidance details the obligations under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) which businesses must comply with when making environmental and sustainability claims. It outlines what the ACCC considers to be good practice when making such claims, to help businesses provide clear, accurate and trustworthy information about the environmental performance of their business.

It is great to see some key principles such as:

• Having evidence to back up your claims
• Using third-party certifications as evidence; and
• Do not hide important information – including – consider the full lifecycle of your product or service.

Third-party verified EPDs provide relevant life cycle data and information about products. This is also a timely reminder that we have recently updated our Rules for the Use of the EPD Australasia Logo and Guidance on Claims.

The ACCC is seeking feedback on the draft guidance with submissions due by 15 September 2023.

Further information:

• The draft guidance for business is available to download from the ACCC website
• Providing feedback – please visit the ACCC Consultation Hub
• AdNews: The ACCC’s draft guidelines to stop greenwashing