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New Delhi: The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) and department of consumer affairs are working jointly on setting up a task force to clamp down on greenwashing or false pro-environment claims being made by brands across sectors, including fast fashion, air-conditioners, cars, foods, cosmetics and fuel...
"The task force will sensitise consumers and also examine brands so that terms such as 'eco-friendly, energy-efficient, biodegradable, organic or net-zero plastic, green' without any verification or proof are not used to mislead the consumers," Rohit Kumar Singh, secretary, department of consumer affairs, told ET. ..
Greenwashing is classified as an unfair trade practice by the Consumer Protection Act, 2019..
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) too has a green product certification scheme to monitor products labelled as eco-friendly, while green labels like Energy Star and EcoMark are given to products that meet energy efficiency, water conservation and sustainable raw material sourcing..
Is it that it just has some organic components, but the overall product may not be organic...absolute claims require a much higher degree of evidence," she said.. Citing the example of sanitary napkins, Kapoor said, "A lot of brands now use the word 'biodegradable' in their advertising..
