FTC toughens green marketing guidelines

• Guidelines clarify what qualifies as "recyclable," "recycled content" and "compostable"
• Number of products touting environmental virtues has proliferated
• Some say the guidelines don't go far enough

To avoid deceptive claims, the federal government released tougher standards Monday for marketing products as green, warning companies not to use broad terms such as "eco friendly" without providing specifics and proof.

The Federal Trade Commission's new Green Guides say marketers need to substantiate product claims. For example, they can't say a product is "degradable" unless they can prove that it will entirely break down and return to nature within a year after disposal.

The guides, first issued 20 years ago and last updated in 1998,
clarify what qualifies as "recyclable," "recycled content" and "compostable" and, for the first time, other terms including "carbon offsets", "non-toxic" and "renewable energy." They say marketers shouldn't use environmental certifications or seals that don't clearly convey the basis for the certification.

"They're going to bring substantial change to the marketplace," FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz told reporters during a news conference. "Most marketers are honest," but some claims are misleading, he said. "What they need is a little more clarity."

The revisions, first proposed in October 2010, come as the number of products touting environmental virtues has proliferated. So, too, have complaints about greenwashing, or false advertising.

The guides are not FTC rules or regulations, but if violated, the agency can issue warnings and fines. The FTC warned 78 retailers, including Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart, in 2010 to stop marketing rayon clothes as "bamboo."

"We're very pleased with what we see," says Arthur Weissman, president of Green Seal, a non-profit group founded in 1989 that has stringent rules for certifying products and services. Weissman says too many items have been touting certifications that are either phony or weak or done by a related trade organization. "Now, the FTC has to enforce" the new guidelines.

Others don't think they don't go far enough.

"They're a weak cup of green tea," says Joel Makower, executive editor of GreenBiz.com, which covers corporate sustainability efforts. "They represent a low bar that's only going to head off the worst of the worst."

The FTC is not addressing the use of the terms "sustainable," "natural" or "organic," because it says it either lacks sufficient basis to do so or, in the case of "organic," the U.S. Department of Agriculture has set its own guidelines.