Webinar – Avoiding Greenwashing for Product Stewardship Initiatives

This webinar will assist you in better understanding what you can do to validate environmental claims and avoid greenwashing.

Wed, 18 Oct 2023 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM AEDT

Resources

Greenwashing Webinar Slides

There is growing concern about organisations making misleading environmental claims about their products and packaging. Recently the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) conducted an internet sweep which found 57 per cent of businesses reviewed were making potentially misleading environmental claims.

As a result the ACCC published a draft guidance in July to improve the integrity of environmental and sustainability claims made by businesses and protect consumers from ‘greenwashing’. Feedback on the ACCC’s draft guidance document closed in mid-September.

To help understand what greenwashing is and what you as a business or product stewardship scheme can do to validate claims of environmental and social performance the Centre is pleased to have Nick Heys from the ACCC’s Consumer and Fair Training Division as our guest speaker.

Nick will run us through the types of greenwashing, and the status of the draft guide as well as discuss examples of greenwashing and how organisations can validate claims about their products and services.

Following Nick’s presentation we will open a Q&A session.

Nick Heys – Consumer and Fair Trading Division, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

Nick Heys has worked in a range of roles at the ACCC over the past fifteen years, primarily in competition and consumer protection enforcement. Nick is responsible for setting the ACCC’s Compliance and Enforcement Priorities and runs the ACCC’s strategic enforcement coordination team. Nick leads the ACCC’s work on environmental claims, advertising in the digital marketplace, and the ACCC’s engagement with other consumer protection regulators in Australia.

Nick has extensive experience in the ACCC’s compliance and enforcement work program and leads the ACCC’s engagement with Australian Consumer Law Regulators. In previous roles, Nick managed the ACCC’s International Unit; Law Reform and Policy Unit; and Consumer Compliance teams

The Product Stewardship Centre of Excellence is an independent, not for profit charity, that seeks to reduce waste generation and create positive environmental and social outcomes through sustainable design, resource conservation, reuse, repair, and recycling. The Centre helps businesses, industries, and product stewardship organisations to adopt a strong lifecycle approach to deliver their ESG and circular economy objectives. We also provide independent advice on product stewardship priorities to the Australian government.

Product Stewardship Centre of Excellence | c/- Institute for Sustainable Futures | University of Technology | PO Box 123 | Broadway NSW 2007