Greenwashing news and archive

Environmental advocates slam major brands for "greenwashing" biomass transition

A group of 16 environmental organisations based in Indonesia has criticised major fashion brands for their shift to biomass sources like wood pellets and rice husks, calling it "greenwashing." In an open letter to the industry, groups including the Rainforest Action Network and Friends of the Earth Indonesia argue that these brands'...

Fashion Featured

Most garments donated to major fashion stores are destroyed, not repurposed

Major fashion stores, including H&M, Zara, C&A, Primark, Nike, The North Face, Uniqlo, and M&S, are falling short in their promises of reusing or recycling donated clothing, as revealed by the largest tracking investigation of its kind. The study conducted by the Changing Markets Foundation, using Apple AirTags to monitor 21 items, found that...

BusinessFeatured

Thumbs up or down? How brands and retailers fared in Greenpeace’s greenwashing study

Many of us - as consumers or textile and clothing industry insiders - wonder how to make sense of confusing garment labels that claim that said garment is “sustainable”, “eco”, “green” or some other term that suggests that buying this garment or textile is in any way less harmful for the environment. ‘If only someone would compare all those and...

Fashion Featured

Armedangels says ‘sustainable products don’t exist’ in latest marketing campaign

German fashion brand Armedangels has taken a bold new step in its latest marketing campaign. The Cologne-based label wants to be "radically honest" in its communications by bluntly stating: “Sustainable products don't exist.” With the new marketing campaign the brand highlights that every newly produced product leaves an ecological footprint and...

Fashion |Interview Featured

CMA interview: Fashion's tricky issue of greenwashing and how the UK is fighting it

Greenwashing in fashion is one of the industry’s hottest topics at the moment as vague claims like “sustainable”, “green”, “eco”, and “environmentally friendly” are facing mounting scrutiny from shoppers seeking more transparent ways to buy more responsibly. As consumer demand for less environmentally damaging clothing has grown, so too has...

Fashion Featured

New environmental regulation and a greenwashing crackdown: So what does that mean for fashion?

The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) was just passed in January 2023. Encompassed in the EU Strategy for Sustainable Textiles which itself is anchored among other wider schemes such as the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) and The European Green Deal, the new CSRD will require nearly 50,000 qualifying large...

Fashion Featured

Regulation, data, harmonisation: How fashion is cracking down on greenwashing

As mounting consumer interest for more environmentally friendly fashion options has accelerated in recent years, so too has an increase in greenwashing - where companies exaggerate their environmental credentials by offering vague or misleading information about the products they sell. But just what can be done to combat such a widespread and...

BusinessFeatured

Sustainability round-up 2022

Looking back at the year 2022 in light of the sustainability efforts of the textile and apparel industry, two topics stood out: textile recycling and greenwashing. In view of the growing mountains of discarded clothing and textiles, more has to be done in the area of textile-to-textile recycling so that no virgin materials are used. Efforts to...

Business

FTC looks to further crackdown on ‘greenwashing’ with public input

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has requested public comment on its potential updates and changes to the Green Guides for the Use of Environmental Changes. It comes as consumer interest in buying environmentally-friendly products continues to rise, clashing with the onset of increasingly evident cases of “greenwashing” by brands, uncovered by...

Business

Good On You rates 4,000 brands on their progress on climate change

Sustainability ratings company Good On You started a first-of-its-kind data project in 2021 to get a sense of how the fashion industry is working to address its impacts on the planet. In time for Cop27, Good On You expanded the scope of the project and looked at the ratings of 4,180 brands, bypassing their own claims and analyses and rated their...

Fashion Featured

H&M sued for greenwashing claims, again

Shopping at H&M may not be as sustainable as the fast fashion retailer would have its customers believe. In the latest greenwashing case against the Swedish conglomerate, a claim filed in a federal court in Missouri is suing for "misleadingly, illegally, and deceptively" seeking to capitalise on consumer 'green' trends, where H&M customers are...

Fashion Featured

New rules to crack down on greenwashing proposed by UK watchdog

New measures proposed by a UK watchdog to help crack down on greenwashing could see restrictions on how terms like ‘ESG’, ‘green’ or ‘sustainable’ are used. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said Tuesday it is proposing a package of new measures to tackle greenwashing, which has been an increasingly important conversation within fashion and...