A majority of consumers in France, Germany, Great Britain and Poland perceive terms such as ‘fully recyclable’ and ‘contains recycled plastic’ on packaging in a positive environmental light, a new study commissioned by ClientEarth and conducted by Ipsos has found.
According to the study, which was undertaken ahead of the INC-5.2 global plastics treaty negotiations in Geneva, more than 70% of respondents in all surveyed countries view plastic packaging as harmful to the environment.
As ClientEarth noted, citing OECD findings, plastic production has doubled since 2000 and could triple by 2060 if no significant measures are taken to curb its use.
Labelling terms
On customer perceptions towards terms such as fully recyclable’ and ‘contains recycled plastic’ – between 58% and 72% of those surveyed viewed these labels as environmentally beneficial – ClientEarth added that recycling alone cannot solve the issue of plastic pollution, noting that just 9% of all the plastic ever produced has been recycled to date.
‘Consumers are made to believe recycling is much more effective than it actually is’, it noted, adding that of the 50% recycling rate for plastic bottles in the EU, just 30% is used to produce new bottles.
Despite this, 80% of respondents in Poland and Germany believe that products with recycling labels will actually be recycled if disposed of properly.
‘Misleading claims’
“This survey reveals how misleading recycling claims can be,” ClientEarth lawyer Kamila Drzewicka commented. “Labels promising recyclability and sustainability lead consumers to believe that plastic packaging is actually positive for the environment. This kind of advertising enables even more plastic production.
“But this hides the harsh reality that most plastic ends up in landfills, incinerated or discarded in nature. This doesn’t mean recycling is useless, but it does mean that we can’t have companies exaggerate recycling into a solution for plastic packaging.”
In 2023, ClientEarth supported consumer protection organisation BEUC in filing a legal complaint against food and drink giants Coca-Cola, Nestlé and Danone for the use of misleading ‘100%’ recycled’ and ‘100% recyclable’ claims on plastic water bottles sold across Europe – a move that led Coca-Cola to revise its labelling to remove potentially misleading claims. Read more here.
