Home Publisher's Point of View More Proof That FTC is Serious About Claims Regarding Biodegradability

More Proof That FTC is Serious About Claims Regarding Biodegradability

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Be skeptical of claims regarding a product’s ability to biodegrade quickly in a landfill. (Amenity bottles, other amenity containers, and water bottles come to mind.) That is the takeaway from the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recent six enforcement actions against companies making false claims regarding biodegradability and recyclability.

In one case, ECM Biofilms and two of its customers—shopping bag maker American Plastic Manufacturing and golf tee maker CHAMP—were caught making false claims regarding biodegradability of plastic products. ECM markets additives under the trade name MasterBatch Pellets. These are supposed to make plastic products biodegradable. ECM allegedly claimed, for example, that “plastic products made with [its] additives will break down in approximately nine months to five years in nearly all landfills or wherever else they may end up.” American Plastic Manufacturing and CHAMP claimed that their products were biodegradable based on the use of the additives sold by ECM.

The FTC complaint alleges that these purportedly biodegradable plastics do not in fact biodegrade within a reasonably short period of time after disposal in a landfill. Moreover, the complaint alleges that ECM has no substantiation to support its claims that its additive makes plastic biodegradable.

Claims Regarding Eco Pure

In another case, Clear Choice Housewares was a customer of an additive manufacturer called Bio-Tec Environmental. Clear Choice sold what it claims are biodegradable, reusable plastic food storage containers on its website, as well as in retail stores nationwide. Clear Choice’s marketing materials claimed its products were biodegradable based on the application of a Bio-Tec product called Eco Pure. The FTC alleges that Clear Choice made false and unsubstantiated claims that Eco Pure made its products “quickly biodegradable in landfills.”

Finally in yet another example, AJM Packaging Corp., maker of paper plates, cups, bowls, napkins and bags, violated a previous 1994 order regarding claims it had made regarding biodegradability and recyclability. The FTC has fined the company $450,000. That is one huge plateful of hurt.

In a nutshell, AJM failed to have competent and reliable evidence to substantiate claims that its products will biodegrade within one year when disposed in a landfill. According to the FTC’s Green Guides, revised a year ago, companies must have evidence that the entire product will completely decompose into elements found in nature within one year after customary disposal (defined as disposal in a landfill, incinerator, or recycling facility) before making any unqualified claim regarding biodegradability.

It is clear the FTC is serious about stopping these types of false claims. It is too bad those companies stretching the truth are creating a cloud of doubt surrounding statements regarding biodegradability and recyclability. My suggestion is to grill any supplier regarding statements of biodegradability and recyclability. Ask for proof and verification from a credible third party. If you do not, it is very possible you could be extending suppliers’ false claims to your property and your customers.

Got comments? I can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com, or by phone at (216) 848-1406.

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