The Competition and Markets Authority said that it had secured agreements from the three firms, which commits them to informing their customers properly in the future
Asda, Asos and Boohoo have promised to make sure shoppers are given accurate details about how green their clothes are after a 20-month probe by a regulator.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that it had secured agreements from the three firms, which commits them to informing their customers properly in the future. It started an investigation into potential greenwashing at the firms in the summer of 2022, saying it was worried that some clothes in the companies’ ranges did in fact not meet green criteria.
The watchdog said at the time that it might take the businesses to court if their claims did not “stack up”. But on Wednesday it announced it has instead come to an agreement where none of the firms admit any wrongdoing, but promise to follow a set of rules.
Asos has a “Responsible edit” range, Boohoo sells clothes under “Ready for the Future”, and Asda has “George for Good”. In future, the criteria for inclusion in these ranges must be “clearly set out and detail any minimum requirements,” the CMA said.
“For example, if products need to contain a certain percentage of recycled fibres to be included in the range, this should be made clear,” it said. Products must meet all criteria to be included in one of those ranges. ranges.
The companies have been advised not to use unclear words like eco, responsible or sustainable. Instead, they should go for more precise terms such as organic or recycled. In addition, those terms can only be used if specific requirements are met and the amount of recycled or organic materials in clothes has to be shown clearly.
Also, if a business has some green certification, it needs to specify whether that applies to specific products or their broader practices. Sarah Cardell, the boss of CMA, said: “Following our action, the millions of people who shop with these well-known businesses can now have confidence in the green claims they see.”
“This also marks a turning point for the industry. The commitments set a benchmark for how fashion retailers should be marketing their products, and we expect the sector as a whole from high street to designer brands to take note and review their own practices.”
