Georgia Institute of TechnologySystems Realization Laboratory

Federal Trade Commission Green GuidesFederal Trade Commission Green Guides

• Apply Section 5 of FTC Act to environmental advertising and marketing

• Apply to: labeling, advertising, promotional materials, etc. through words, symbols, emblems, logos, depictions, brand names, etc. in connection with sale or marketing of any product or package.

• Not enforceable regulations, and do not preempt other regulations.

• Conduct inconsistent with the positions articulated in these guides may result in corrective action (i.e. lawsuit)

• General Principles

- Qualifications and disclosures should be clear and prominent

- Must be a clear distinction between benefits of product and package

- Do not overstate environmental attributes, expressly or by implication

- Basis for comparative claims must be made clear, and advertiser should substantiate claim

Georgia Institute of TechnologySystems Realization Laboratory

Specific Environmental Marketing Claims CoveredSpecific Environmental Marketing Claims Covered

• General environmental benefit claims must be substantiated

• Degradable/biodegradable/photodegradable claims- Where customarily disposed of

- Rate and extent of degradation

• Compostable claims

• Recyclable- Collected, separated from waste stream for use as raw material (does not allow reuse of

products)

- Unqualified claims: minor, incidental components allowed to be non-recyclable

- Limited availability of recycling program must be noted

• Recycled content- Pre- and Post-consumer waste that has been recovered or diverted from solid waste stream

• Source Reduction

• Refillable packaging requires infrastructure

• Ozone safe / ozone friendly

Georgia Institute of TechnologySystems Realization Laboratory

Respondents to the Call for CommentsRespondents to the Call for Comments

• American Society for Testing and Materials

• Free-Flow Packaging Corporation

• The New Consumer Institute

• Ecolab Center

• Green Seal

• Occidental Chemical Corporation

• Methyl Bromide Alternatives Network

• Helene Curtis

• Union Carbide

• James River Corp.

• Nat. Assoc. For Plastic Container RecoveryInternational Paper

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

• American Bakers Association

• Attorneys General of 12 States

• The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc.

• Los Angeles Co. District Attorney's Office

• The Composting Council

• International Dairy Foods Association

• Brenda J. Cude and Robert N. Mayer

• Environmental Defense Fund

Georgia Institute of TechnologySystems Realization Laboratory

American Plastics CouncilAmerican Plastics Council

• APC strongly urges that the existing FTC Guides should remain unchanged, including the treatment of the plastic resin identification code

• We urge the Commission ... to retain its current policy on the resin identification code

• APC shares the Commission’s view that use of the SPI resin identification code is not a claim of recyclability... in an inconspicuous location

• Almost four-fifths of the states...require in state law that container manufacturers use the current SPI resin identification code

• Advertisers and manufacturers should not be expected to change advertising practices nationally just because local or regional market conditions may, for a short time, preclude a particular package from being recovered for recycling

Georgia Institute of TechnologySystems Realization Laboratory

COPE SurveyCOPE Survey

• Please Recycle Question Option #1: If packaging sold throughout the United States is labeled "Please Recycle", does this mean that collection programs exist in your community to recycle the package? (close-ended question)

- Yes 31%

- No 49%

- Maybe (volunteered) 13%

- Don’t Know (volunteered) 7%

• Please Recycle Question Option #2: If a package sold throughout the United States is labeled "Please Recycle", does this mean that the package can be recycled by consumers in all communities, most, some, a few, or no communities in the U.S.? (close-ended question)

- All 28%

- Most 27%

- Some 33%

- A few 5%

- None 1%

- Don't Know (volunteered) 6%

Georgia Institute of TechnologySystems Realization Laboratory

Environmental Defense FoundationEnvironmental Defense Foundation

• No absolute claims of general environmental benefit should be permitted

• Symbols should be accompanied by text explaining environmental benefits (Mobius loop, chasing arrows)

- EPA also noted this.

• SPI Code should be eliminated

Georgia Institute of TechnologySystems Realization Laboratory

Ford Motor CompanyFord Motor Company

• Problems noted with difference between European and U.S. views of recyclability

• The current language of the Guides [does not] adequately address the recyclability of durable automobiles

• Guides should not require that distinctions be made between pre- and post-consumer recycled material

• Products recycled after their final intended use by industrial customers should be included within the definition of “post-consumer material”