Commerce Commission finds rubbish in companies’ claims

Eco-Pal, a manufacturer of plastic rubbish bags, has been sentenced in the Auckland District Court for environmental claims, which breached the Fair Trading Act.

It’s the second successful prosecution for the Commerce Commission in recent months over claims by rubbish bag manufacturers.

Eco-Pal has been found guilty of 15 breaches of the FTA and fined $60,000 for claiming on the product and its website that its rubbish bags were oxo-biodegradable, biodegradable, suitable for domestic composting and for claims giving the impression of environmental friendliness.

The slogan “Here today ... gone tomorrow” was a key advertisement found to have mislead consumers, according to a commission press release.

Eco-Pal sold a range of bags that contained the additive d2W that it claimed made the bags oxo-biodegradable. The bags were marketed on the basis there was an environmental benefit in using the oxo-biodegradable plastic bags over conventional plastic bags.

Eco-Pal’s marketing gave the impression that its products would degrade over a reasonably short time, including when disposed of in a landfill and were suitable for domestic composting. However the claims were liable to mislead.

Although oxo-biodegradable plastic bags can break down in the right conditions, this will not occur within a short timeframe and in a landfill it has a minimal chance of occurring at all, according to the Commerce Commission press release. Further, the bags were unsuitable for domestic composting.

In August, Pacrite Industries was fined $30,000 after pleading guilty to 10 charges in relation to claims about the oxo-biodegradability and environmental friendliness of its plastic rubbish bags, marketed as Greensac or The Green One. Pacrite no longer sells those bags.

Companies who make inaccurate environmental claims are being held accountable for those advertising failures, says Stuart Wallace, consumer manager for the commission, in a press release.

“Environmental issues are of significant importance to New Zealanders. Advertising such as this will cause more people to buy these products in the belief they are benefiting the environment when, in fact, there is little or no benefit whatsoever.”