Three quarters of UK products feature some sort of environmental claim

Just under three quarters (74%) of all products marketed online by UK retailers feature some sort of ‘green’ or ‘environmental‘ claim, new data by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Provenance has found.

The study analysed close to 390,000 product claims across nearly 132,000 SKUs, sold by seven major UK online supermarket retailers.

Green claims

There was an average of 2.9 green claims per product, an indication of the level to which sustainability is being used as a marketing tool.

Some claims – as many as one in seven – were also found to have a high risk of misleading consumers. This is, however, a risk level lower than the 40% reported by the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) in global reviews.

The analysis categorised claims into high, medium, and low-risk categories. High-risk claims were found to include vague or inaccurate language, such as ‘sustainable’, ‘eco-friendly’, and ‘100% recyclable‘.

For example, claims like ‘fully recyclable’ were deemed misleading because not all materials can be recycled in every UK borough, and some lose material in the process.

The study identified that claims related to nature were the most prevalent, accounting for 55% of all green claims, with only 15% of them considered high-risk. In contrast, carbon-related claims made up just 2.7% of green claims but represented 24% of high-risk claims.

The findings from the study have prompted the BRC and Provenance to launch the Retailer Green Claims Forum, a collaborative initiative aimed at enhancing green claims compliance and transparency in the retail sector.

‘Highly encouraging’

“It’s highly encouraging to see that retailers are responding to consumer demand for sustainability,” commented Tracey Banks, climate action roadmap manager at the British Retail Consortium.

“We recognise, however, that the industry needs more support to ensure their green marketing is clear, accurate, and substantiated. What’s at stake is not just compliance, but a very real green growth opportunity. Our new Retailer Green Claims Forum with Provenance is a timely and essential initiative to help sustainability leaders collaborate with experts and peers to master green claims compliance and realise their commercial value.”

Elsewhere, Jessi Baker, founder of Provenance, added, “It’s heartening to see retailers aren’t shying away from sustainability marketing efforts and we’re excited to partner with the BRC on the Retailer Green Claims Forum to give them the confidence they need to make accurate and credible green claims.” Read more here.

10 most common ‘high risk’ environmental claims