Clorox Australia has been fined $8.25 million after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) took the FMCG giant to court for making false or misleading representations regarding some of its Glad kitchen and garbage bags.
The ACCC argued that by representing its Glad to be Green ‘50% Ocean Plastic Recycled’ Kitchen Tidy Bags and Garbage Bags as made of at least 50 per cent recycled plastic waste collected from the ocean or sea, it had breached the Australian Consumer Law.
Instead, the products were made with 50 per cent plastic waste from Indonesian communities with no formal waste management systems, located 50km from a shoreline, with the remaining composition consisting of non-recycled plastic, processing aid and dye.
From June 2021 to July 2023, more than 2.2 million products were available for sale in this packaging.
“This is also a significant matter because consumers have limited or no ability to independently verify the accuracy of the claims made on packaging and it also disadvantages competitors who are accurately communicating their environmental credentials,” said ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb.
Clorox was also required to set up an Australian Consumer Law compliance program, issue a corrective notice on its website and pay part of the ACCC’s legal costs.
During the ACCC’s investigation, Clorox cooperated with legal proceedings, made admissions and agreed to make joint submissions with the ACCC to the court.
The products in question were discontinued in July 2023, after Clorox was made aware of the ACCC’s investigation.
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.”
