There continues to be increased global activity and enforcement around environmental claims and greenwashing, the practice of making false or misleading environmental sustainability claims. The U.S. is consulting on updates to its Green Guides, Europe is planning to introduce new laws to prevent greenwashing, and the U.K. is cracking down on net-zero claims. Which leaves […]
Where is Canada’s Guidance on Environmental Claims? Read More »
As the Paper and Paperboard Packaging Environmental Council (PPEC) continues to work on achieving its mission to promote the environmental sustainability of the Canadian paper packaging industry, we will also be closely monitoring the following key issues in 2023: Extended Producer Responsibility and Recycling Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a policy approach in which a
What PPEC will be Watching in 2023 Read More »
The Paper and Paperboard Packaging Environmental Council (PPEC) sat down with its former and long-standing Executive Director, John Mullinder, who helped formed PPEC in 1990, and retired in February 2021. John recently published his new book, Little Green Lies and Other BS, which focuses on environmental claims and advertising; it is a follow up to
Little Green Lies: Q&A with Author John Mullinder Read More »
On November 4, 2021, the Competition Bureau archived Environmental claims: A guide for industry and advertisers, stating that: “The Guide may not reflect the Bureau’s current policies or practices and does not reflect the latest standards and evolving environmental concerns. The guide will remain available for reference, research and recordkeeping purposes, but it will not be
Competition Bureau Archived Canadian Environmental Claims Guide: Now What? Read More »
Claims for 100% recyclable and 100% compostable seem to be proliferating. Are they accurate? Are they legal? Or are they just another form of greenwash? It’s not surprising that North American consumers are confused. Because in common speech, the words “recyclable” and “compostable” can mean three different things: technically recyclable or compostable, meaning that the
Nothing is 100% recyclable or 100% compostable Read More »
The good news is that the reported recovery rates for almost every single material category in Ontario’s Blue Box have improved over the last 13 years, some by as much as 20 percentage points. The bad news is that several categories have made very little progress and lag way behind the others, and that the
The good, the bad, and the ugly about Ontario’s Blue Box Read More »
The North American paper packaging industry has served notice that it will challenge (legally, if necessary) any false and misleading claims about its operations and environmental impact. Case in point: major plastic crate supplier, IFCO. IFCO is lobbying North American grocery retailers to move away from the traditional corrugated box system of delivering fruit and
False and misleading claims removed from IFCO website Read More »
Proposed environmental labeling system could lead to claims of industry greenwashing The US-based Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) has transplanted a UK environmental labelling idea to a North American context and is encouraging Canadian companies to pilot it. While we commend the initiative, in our opinion there is a serious danger that companies adopting it could leave themselves
Environmental Labelling Read More »
British Columbia is the latest province in Canada to regulate extended producer responsibility (or EPR) for printed paper and packaging. Publishers, packaging brandowners and first importers (collectively known as stewards) have until November 19 to deliver a plan on how to do it. The big difference with BC is that industry will not only be
British Columbia has golden opportunity to get it right. Read More »
