Clorox Australia has been ordered by the Federal Court to pay a penalty of US$5.2 million (AU$8.25 million) after making false claims about the environmental benefits of a range of Glad kitchen and garbage bags.
The company was found to have misrepresented that certain bags were made with “50% Ocean Plastic Recycled” material when, in fact, they contained plastic waste sourced from communities in Indonesia with no formal waste management systems.
Between June 2021 and July 2023, Clorox sold more than 2.2 million products with misleading packaging, claiming that the bags contained recycled ocean plastic.
However, the actual material was ocean-bound plastic collected from land-based sources near coastlines, not from the ocean itself.
The company’s packaging also featured ocean-themed images, further emphasising the false claim.
Clorox’s Glad bags, which were sold in major retailers like Woolworths and Coles, included phrases like “50% Ocean Plastic Recycled” and “Made using 50% Ocean Bound Plastic.”
Wording concerns
Between June 2021 and about 13 November 2022, the packaging of Clorox’s small, medium, and large Kitchen Tidy Bags included the statements ‘50% Ocean Plastic Recycled Bags’, and ‘Made using 50% Ocean Plastic*’ around an image of a wave, overlaid on an image of a blue coloured waste disposal bag.
The back of the packaging carried the following statements in a smaller font:
‘These bags are made from 50% ocean recycled plastic, and have the trusted strength of Glad® to hold household waste on its way to landfill. Recycling ocean bound plastic reduces plastic pollution before it enters the ocean, helping to reduce pollution in waterways, save marine life and put an end to irresponsible waste.’
‘*Made using 50% ocean bound plastic that is collected from communities with no formal waste management system within 50 km of the shore line.’
These statements were insufficient to dispel the false or misleading ocean plastic representation.
From about 6 March 2022, Clorox began updating the packaging to include the statement ‘Made using 50% Ocean Bound Plastic*’ on the front of the packaging.
Clorox also updated the statements, which appeared in small font on the back of the Kitchen Tidy Bags’ packaging as follows:
‘These bags are made from 50% ocean bound recycled plastic, and have the trusted strength of Glad® to hold household waste on its way to landfill. Recycling ocean bound plastic reduces plastic pollution before it enters the ocean, helping to reduce pollution in waterways, making the seas safer for marine life, and helping to put an end to irresponsible waste.’
‘*Made using 50% ocean bound recycled plastic that is collected from communities with no formal waste management system within 50 km of the shore line.’
These changes were insufficient to dispel the false or misleading ocean plastic representation.
Clorox discontinued the products in July 2023.
Garbage Bags
Between May 2022 and July 2023, the packaging of its large and extra-large Garbage Bags included the statements ‘50% Ocean Plastic Recycled Garbage Bags’, and ‘Made using 50% Ocean Bound Plastic*’ around an image of a wave, overlaid on an image of a blue coloured waste disposal bag.
The back of the packaging also carried two statements in smaller font, which sought to qualify the ocean plastic representation:
‘These strong garbage bags are made from 50% ocean bound recycled plastic, and have the trusted strength of Glad® to hold waste on its way to landfill. Recycling ocean bound plastic reduces plastic pollution before it enters the ocean, helping to reduce pollution in waterways, making the seas safer for marine life, and helping to put an end to irresponsible waste.’
‘*Made using 50% ocean bound recycled plastic that is collected from communities with no formal waste management system within 50 km of the shore line.’
Again, this information did not dispel the false or misleading ocean plastic representation.
Investigation, action, and resolution
Gina Cass-Gottlieb, chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), emphasised the importance of accurate environmental claims.
“Claims about environmental benefits matter to many consumers and may impact their purchasing behaviour,” she said.
The Federal Court also required Clorox to implement an Australian Consumer Law compliance program, publish a corrective notice on its website, and pay part of the ACCC’s legal costs.
Clorox cooperated fully with the investigation and legal proceedings, making admissions and agreeing to a joint submission regarding the penalty. The company voluntarily discontinued the misleading products in July 2023 after the ACCC began its investigation.
Cass-Gottlieb added that businesses must ensure transparency when making sustainability claims.
“While the ACCC encourages businesses to innovate and offer environmentally sustainable products, businesses need to be clear and accurate when making representations about them. We take allegations of greenwashing extremely seriously and will continue to monitor claims made by businesses.”
In a statement emailed to Inside FMCG, Glad Australia said it “takes seriously” its obligations to package and market its products with claims that are accurate and substantiated.
“While the ACCC and the court recognised that Glad did not intend to mislead consumers, we respect this outcome and see this as an opportunity to further enhance our practices and reaffirm our commitment to offering products that help reduce environmental impact and meet consumers’ evolving needs.”
