Clorox fined US$5.2mn for misleading consumers on origin of recycled plastics
The case is representative of the increased sophistication in greenwashing attempts – and growing attention to detail from regulators.
US multinational firm Clorox has been fined by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for misleading consumers with a claim that its garbage bags were made of 50% recycled “ocean plastics”.
The firm will have to pay A$8.25 million (US$5.22 million) in penalties after admitting that it misled consumers with its GLAD to be GREEN garbage bags – which claimed to be made of 50% recycled “ocean plastic”, but were in fact made with plastic waste collected from communities in Indonesia with no formal waste management systems, and located up to 50 kilometres from a shoreline.
