While your posters, flyers and other advertisements can add value to your environmental efforts, they should not fall into the misuse of the green argument. Forget your “Good for nature” poster right away to talk about your soaps or your sandwiches: the Circular Economy Law of 2020 and the Climate and Resilience Law of 2021 both have provisions that would make you incur up to… two years’ imprisonment and a fine of 300,000 euros for a misleading commercial practice, with an aggravating circumstance linked to the environment. Slogans such as “Good for nature” are considered too general, excessive and disproportionate.
“From now on, we can no longer use terms that resemble environmental virtues without carrying out a concrete approach, welcomes Julie Vincent, specialized lawyer. Environmental information becomes mandatory, not only to put forward a green approach, but all simply to sell its products. And there is a real risk for the offender since the environmental claim is no longer subject to the assessment of the brand, but to the market and competition authorities of its economic sector, themselves supervised by law.”
A study (ARPP/Ademe, 2022) estimated that in 2020, 10.9% of advertisements were non-compliant, compared to 6% in 2017. The mentions “eco-responsible”, “respect the environment”, and other formulas of the ” sustainable” and “committed” have flourished in pubs in recent years. “Any indication misleading the consumer is reprehensible, continues the lawyer, even if it is factually true … but objectively false. Example: a household product stipulating that it is made from a molecule derived from a plant, but who would forget to say that, to extract the molecule, it was necessary to resort to a polluting or energy-intensive process.
Franchisees and franchisors should not take the new legislative arsenal lightly, even if the absence of a decree ratifying the Climate Law still leaves legal uncertainty. “In the absence of a decree, the article is subject to interpretation, regrets Julie Vincent. There is therefore insecurity for the sectors concerned: textiles, furniture, hotels and restaurants and food products.” More generally, she fears that the deadlines set out in the law, which are too short given the level of requirements, will be postponed. “At this time, I have not seen an emblematic court decision that would have resulted from this.” More than 2,000 climate trials are taking place around the world, most of them in the United States. It’s up to you to see if you want to play guinea pigs in France…
Say, don’t say…
“Biodegradable” or “environmentally friendly”
> Whatever the packaging, it is forbidden to include these mentions.
“Compostable”
> Plastic products and packaging requiring composting in an industrial unit cannot bear this mention. As for those that must be processed at home or in a factory, they must bear the words “Do not dispose of them in the environment”.
“Recyclable”
> The percentage of recycled materials must be specified.
“Ecological”
> The term is too vague and therefore misleading. Be more factual (energy consumption reduced by X%, C02 emissions limited to X%, etc.)
Avoid the traps
The term “greenwashing” has flourished, if we dare say so, for some time. What does it consist on ? In ‘one message that could mislead the consumer about the real ecological quality of the product or about the reality of the sustainable development approach”, to use the definition given by Ademe in its Anti-greenwashing guide. According to the Environment and Energy Management Agency, there are several pitfalls to avoid, starting with the excessive promise of presenting an item as completely ecological when only one of its elements is. . It also happens that the advantage claimed is not argued. In other cases, the visual accompanying the message is confusing: the small wind turbine certainly has a link with ecology, but… none with your product.
To find out if your message is likely to be considered greenwashing, do the Ademe test using this QR code or download the guide.
An article from the Franchise special issue of L’Express. On newsstands since March 16.