When purchasing products made from recycled content, you are keeping materials out of landfills and groundwater, growing new markets, encouraging more manufacturers to use recycled materials and valuing circular product design. According to research by Planet Ark, 70% of Australians are more likely to purchase a product if it contains recycled content.
However, there are right and wrong ways to make environmental claims, including those relating to recycled content. Greenwashing harms brand value and can undermine the credibility of the whole industry, creating scepticism around environmental claims. It can also expose you to serious legal risks.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) have identified greenwashing as a significant compliance issue. Ensuring recycled content claims are clear and accurate helps people make better purchasing decisions and incentivises businesses to compete fairly and differentiate themselves based on genuine investment and innovation.
What you exclude can be just as meaningful (or misleading) as what you include—for example, claiming that your product is made from 100% recycled plastic yet failing to be upfront that plastic only makes up a small portion of the product’s total ingredients.
GECA’s expert team has published a position statement on making recycled content claims to help Australian businesses align with current best practices – paving a clearer road to a circular future. Access the guide here: https://geca.aflip.in/GECAPositionStatement_RecycledContentClaims
By Kendall Benton-Collins (Strategic Communications Manager at GECA)