As sustainability's impact grows, retailers are challenged to ensure product claims are accurate.
The ongoing and evolving conversation around sustainability remains a hot topic for retailers and suppliers alike as each side of the equation continues to develop new products and packaging with the goal of having a minimal impact on the environment.
While not new to the sustainability discussion, greenwashing has resurfaced recently as the number of claims regarding topics ranging from how products are sourced to whether a packaging is truly recyclable or compostable continues to grow.
Experts that spoke with Store Brands feel the greenwashing discussion has evolved in recent years. In the past, when sustainability initially hit the radar of retailers and product developers, there was a greater sense that claims related to a product’s sustainability bonafides were purposely false.
Image
Today, however, the overriding thought from industry insiders related to greenwashing is that false claims largely are not the result of nefarious intentions, but a variety of issues including a lack of understanding of evolving regulations or confusion around rules put in place by local governments.
“(Greenwashing) is definitely still an issue, but not because companies are trying to greenwash,” said Dawn Nowicki, vice president of Marketing with packaging supplier MRP Solutions. “Today it’s more from a lack of consistency in standards or a lack of clarity in how certain things are defined....
A slew of NYPD officers recounted on Sunday horror stories from their careers in which they say they were falsely accused of sexual misconduct and, despite being exonerated, had the allegations sh...