Environmental and Health Groups Call on the Federal Trade Commission To Stop Companies From Making False Plastic Recycling Claims
Detailed Public Comments Submitted to the FTC Include Call for Honest Recycled Content Claims to Stop the Chemical Recycling Hoax
Today, six national environmental and health groups submitted 54 pages of detailed recommendations and extensive evidence in response to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) solicitation of public comment on the Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims (known as the “Green Guides”). The comprehensive comments, submitted by The Last Beach Cleanup, Just Zero, Plastic Pollution Coalition, Beyond Plastics, Center for Biological Diversity, and Greenpeace USA, focus on recyclability and recycled content labels and claims on plastic products and packaging.
The commenting organizations are extremely concerned about the growing environmental and human health impacts associated with plastic production, waste, and pollution. Despite a dismal 5%-6% U.S. plastic recycling rate and rising public backlash about the prevalence of unrecyclable and single-use plastic products, companies continue to use plastic when designing and packaging their products.
The groups urge the Commission to:
- Strengthen the Green Guides requirements and initiate a formal rulemaking process to codify the Green Guides into law;
- Incorporate key provisions from California’s Truth in Labeling Law, which prohibits “Check Locally” and other deceptive labels, into federal regulation;
- Prohibit store drop-off labels unless the company can demonstrate that the program is proven to capture and recycle at least 75% of the covered materials; and
- Only define recycled plastic content based on actual physical content from materials that have passed through the hands of individual consumers. The FTC must prohibit the illegitimate “mass balance” approach promoted as part of the plastics industry’s false chemical recycling campaign.
Jackie Nunez, Advocacy & Engagement Manager, Plastic Pollution Coalition: “We provide clear and ample evidence of corporate deception on plastics, underscoring the need for the FTC to expand the scope of what is considered harm arising from deceitful, misleading, and false claims about recyclability of plastic products and packaging.”
