Proposed Revisions to Claims Currently Addressed by Guides
General Environmental Benefit Degradable
(e.g., “green,” “eco-friendly”) • For solid waste products other than those destined • Marketers should not make unqualified general for landfills, incinerators, or recycling facilities, environmental benefit claims. They are difficult, the proposal clarifies that the “reasonably short if not impossible, to substantiate. (The current period of time” for complete decomposition is Guides state that marketers can make unqualified no more than one year after customary disposal. claims if they can substantiate all express and (The current Guides state that a marketer implied claims. Otherwise, they should qualify should qualify a degradable claim unless it can the claim.) substantiate that the “entire product or package will completely breakdown and return to nature • Qualifications should be clear and prominent, within a reasonably short period of time after and should limit the claim to a specific benefit. customary disposal.”) Marketers should ensure the advertisement’s context does not imply deceptive environmental • Marketers should not make unqualified claims. (In the current Guides, this guidance degradable claims for items destined for landfills, appears only in examples.) incinerators, or recycling facilities because decomposition will not occur within one year. Certifications and Seals of Approval • This new section emphasizes that certifications/ Compostable seals are endorsements covered by the • The proposal clarifies that the time period Commission’s Endorsement Guides and referenced in the current Guides for an provides new examples illustrating how those unqualified compostable claim (“All materials Guides apply to environmental claims (e.g., in product/package will break down into, or marketers should disclose material connections otherwise become a part of, usable compost to the certifier). (The current Guides address . . . in a safe and timely manner . . .”) means certifications/seals in only one example in the that a product or package will break down in general environmental benefit section. 16 CFR approximately the same time as the materials 260.7, Example 5.) with which it is composted.
• Because an unqualified certification/seal (one
that does not state the basis for certification) Ozone-Safe/Ozone-Friendly likely conveys a general environmental benefit • The proposal contains minor updates to examples claim, marketers should use clear and prominent to reflect changes in regulations concerning language limiting the claim to particular ozone-depleting chemicals. attribute(s) for which they have substantiation. (This provision highlights guidance already provided in current Guides’ Example 5.) • Third-party certification does not eliminate a marketer’s obligation to have substantiation for all conveyed claims. Recyclable Free-of/Non-Toxic • The proposal highlights the three-tiered analysis • Free-of: This new section expands the current for disclosing the limited availability of recycling guidance, advising that even if true, claims that programs. (This guidance currently appears in an item is free-of a substance may be deceptive examples only.) if: (1) the item has substances that pose the same or similar environmental risk as the substance 1. “Substantial majority” of consumers/ not present (currently covered in an example); communities have access to recycling and (2) the substance has never been associated facilities — Marketer can make an with the product category (new guidance). Also, unqualified recyclable claim. under certain circumstances, free-of claims may 2. “Significant percentage” of consumers/ be appropriate even where an item contains communities have access to recycling a de minimis amount of a substance (new facilities — Marketer should qualify guidance). Free-of claims may convey additional recyclable claim (e.g., package may not be environmental claims, including general recyclable in your area). benefit or comparative superiority claims (new guidance). 3. Less than a “significant percentage” of consumers/communities have access to • Non-toxic: Such claims likely convey that an recycling facilities — Marketer should item is non-toxic both for humans and for the qualify recyclable claim (e.g., product is environment generally. (This guidance was in recyclable only in the few communities that an example in the general environmental benefit have recycling programs). section.)
Proposed Guidance for Claims Not Currently Addressed by the Guides
Made with Renewable Materials renewable energy or conventional energy offset
by renewable energy certificates (“RECs”). • Marketers should qualify claims with specific information about the renewable material (what it • Marketers that generate renewable energy (e.g., is; how it is sourced; why it is renewable). by using solar panels), but sell RECs for all of the renewable energy they generate, should not • Additionally, marketers should qualify renewable represent that they use renewable energy. materials claims if the item is not made entirely with renewable materials (excluding minor, incidental components). Carbon Offsets • Marketers should have competent and reliable Made with Renewable Energy scientific evidence to support their carbon offset claims, including using appropriate accounting • Marketers should not make unqualified renewable methods to ensure they are properly quantifying energy claims if the power used to manufacture emission reductions and are not selling those any part of the product was derived from fossil reductions more than once. fuels. • Marketers should disclose if the offset purchase • Marketers should qualify claims by specifying funds emission reductions that will not occur for the source of renewable energy (e.g., wind or two years or longer. solar). Additionally, marketers should qualify claims if less than all, or virtually all, of the • Marketers should not advertise a carbon offset significant manufacturing processes involved in if the activity that forms the basis of the offset is making the product/package were powered with already required by law.