The bags were instead partly made from plastic that was collected in Indonesia – up to 50 kilometres from a shoreline – and not from the ocean or sea as the packaging had claimed.
“We allege that the headline ‘ocean plastic’ statements and wave imagery on the Glad bag packaging,and the use of blue-coloured bags,created the impression that these Glad bags were made from plastic waste collected from the ocean or sea,when this was not the case,” ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.
“We are concerned that,by its alleged conduct,Clorox deprived consumers of the opportunity to make informed purchasing decisions,and may have put other businesses making genuine environmental claims at an unfair disadvantage.”
Loading
Regulators,including the ACCC and the Australian Securities and Investment Commission,have been cracking down on greenwashing,which involves making false or unfounded claims about sustainability and climate action.
ASIC scored its first court win in its anti-greenwashing campaign last month when the Federal Court ruled Vanguard Australia made misleading claims about its environmental credentials in one of its investments products.
MOO Premium Foods entered into a court-enforceable undertaking with the ACCC last year,following an investigation into the yoghurt manufacturer’s headline claims its tubs were entirely made from ocean plastic.