Hong Kong took part in an international study on environmental labels on common household products.
Results of the study were released today (April 3) by Consumers International (CI), the global federation of 250 consumer organisations in 111 countries.
Consumers, according to the global study, are still finding environmental labels on common household products confusing and misleading.
In the report, Green claims: Environmental claims on products and packaging in the shops, consumer organisations participating in the study compared the green labelling on products such as toilet rolls, paints, detergents and kitchen appliances. The comparison was based on an international Standard (ISO 14021) agreed to by the International Standards Organisation in September 1999.
Besides Hong Kong, 9 countries - Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States - also participated in the CI's study which was funded by the European Commission and the German and Dutch governments.
That voluntary 'self-declared environmental claims' standard bans:
- Vague or misleading claims. These apply to such claims as 'environmentally friendly', which was found on numerous products, including stain-removing aerosols, washing powders and toilet tissues. 'Non-polluting' is another popular phrase, applied to everything from packaging on a Belgian sesame bar to UK flour.
- Claims of achieving sustainability, such as 'produced from sustained yield management forest' or 'sustainable materials'. Greeting cards in Australia, firelighters in Germany and doors in the UK all carry such wording.
- Claims that can be misinterpreted, such as 'wrapped in biodegradable paper' on a brand of Austrian toilet paper. This is technically true, since paper is biodegradable, but likely to be misinterpreted, since the wrapper is likely to end up in a landfill, where biodegradability would be a disadvantage.
The Standard also lists and defines a number of terms commonly used in environmental claims. These include: compostable, degradable, recycled content, recyclable, reusable and refillable.
Green claims marks the first time any organisation has attempted to apply the new Standard to the types of environmental claims that are currently found in international markets.
While many good and useful claims are being made, it is still clear there is a long way to go in ensuring shoppers are adequately informed about the environmental impact of the products they buy," said Anna Fielder, Director of CI's Office for Developed and Transition Economies.
The National Consumer Council (NCC) in the UK, which wrote and researched the report, is calling on major consumer product multinationals to lead the way in developing clear and meaningful environmental labels.
Consumers rely on information and if that information is misleading or confusing, it prevents them from making informed choices," said Anna Bradley, NCC's Director. Ms. Bradley points out that a small number of multinationals dominate the market where most of the green claims proliferate - toiletries, detergents and household paper.
If these companies lead the way and adopt the new ISO standard," she said, "the incidence of misleading claims could be substantially reduced worldwide."
In Hong Kong, the shopping survey of the study was carried out in February last year. Shops visited included: 3 supermarket chains, 2 personal care chain stores, 3 bookshop chains and 4 electrical retailer chains.
The results show that environmental claims in the Hong Kong market were mainly found on household products such as aerosols, cleaners, and batteries. These claims were not prominently displayed and small in size relative to the products.
In the survey, environmental information of 67 products (comprising aerosols, household products, drinks, paper products, batteries and electrical products) was collected and analysed by CI in accordance with the voluntary standard. 45 (62%) of the products samples were shown to be not in compliance with the voluntary standard.
There is no mature market for the promotion of environmental products in Hong Kong. Most of the claims found were on imported products. Though the claims about the production stage may not be directly relevant to Hong Kong, they do serve to raise the environmental awareness of consumers here.
Most environmental claims related to post-use benefits. Such claims would be useful if consumers could help to reduce, re-use or recycle the packaging whenever possible, and if this information would facilitate the disposal of the packaging.
At present, recycling bins are provided in both public and private housing estates to facilitate the recycling of paper, plastics and aluminum cans. The government has been active in educating the public through various media about the importance of recycling.
Mrs. Pamela Chan Wong Shui, Chief Executive of Consumer Council, Hong Kong, notes that only relatively few products in the market now carry environmental labels, but is of the view that it is more important to have labels making accurate claims than having a large number of products carrying vague or misleading claims.