Organics management facility workers separate non-compostables from organic material.
What is "greenwashing"?
Today, buzzwords fly around us like mosquitoes on a sultry summer night. Terms like “sustainable,” “plant-based,” and “eco-friendly,” are growing in popularity. More and more businesses are describing themselves, their products, and their practices using “green” terms. Because of climate change and pollution, many of us strongly consider the environmental impacts of our purchasing decisions. We want to make the most responsible choices possible. But good intentions can cause more harm than good when consumers are being misled. This is why it’s important to recognize greenwashing.
Greenwashing is the attempt to capitalize on the consumer demand for eco-friendly products by falsely promoting their product's environmental or sustainable benefits. This includes claims that these products are more natural, healthier, free of chemicals, recyclable, or less wasteful of resources. It’s all too common in today’s marketplace.
A term that was coined decades ago, "greenwashing" was first used to describe hotels that promoted reusing towels as “saving the environment.” In reality, these policies saved the hotels money by playing to customer’s environmental values without much positive environmental impact. While reducing water and reusing items are important, the marketing didn’t align with the hotels’ other actions that harmed the environment.
Not all environmental marketing is greenwashing. Many businesses with a genuine culture of eco-friendliness are pioneering new technologies and ideas that are true to their word. The challenge for consumers is learning how to tell the difference.
Compostable products labeling
Compostable products have undergone tremendous growth and advancements in the last few decades. And for good reason. The problems with traditional single-use plastic items are well-known and inspired policies that promoted recyclable, reusable, and compostable alternatives. Compostable products are not immune to greenwashing, which is one of the reasons why our state adopted plastic product degradability standards as part of the Organics Management Laws. The law helps protect consumers and business owners from greenwashed products.
Go to our compostable product labeling webpage for details. In general, unless a product is made of wood or paper, our state law requires three design indicators on products claiming to be compostable:
- The certification logo from a third-party who has tested the product to meet industrial composting standards.
- A color signal of green, beige, or brown. This could be all-over coloring, tinting or design, or as minimal as a one-quarter-of-an-inch stripe.
- The written word “compostable.”
Washington law says how compostable products must be labeled and bans certain greenwashing acts, including:
- "Compostable” is the only term that is acceptable. No other terms like “biodegradable" may be used.
- Non-compostable film bags cannot use green, beige, or brown color schemes.
- Compostable products cannot be labeled “Home Compostable” only: they must also have the certification logo from a third-party for industrial composting.
- Products that have not been certified by a third-party cannot be labeled “compostable.”
Report products that violate the law
If your regular coffee shop or food truck uses compostable products, you may have noticed changes over the last few months. The labeling law went into effect Jan. 1, 2024. Some product manufacturers have been working to meet our state’s new standards – others haven’t.
There are still many products available to Washington consumers and businesses that don’t meet our laws’ requirements. Getting these products out of our state will take all of us. Report products that don’t meet Washington standards for compostable products, including the greenwashing violations listed above. The observation form is linked at the top of our compostable product labeling page and is designed to work from a mobile or desktop device.
When we receive an observation, we’ll review the product and contact the producer to discuss the law, if the product is in violation. The producer will have 90 days to make changes before new observations can be considered. Future observations for the same product and violations may result in escalated enforcement. Unlike the single-use serviceware and plastic bag ban complaint forms, we will address violations with the products’ producer instead of the business using or selling the product.
Check local rules before composting!
Even though your favorite restaurant gives you a compostable product, it doesn’t mean you should put it in your organic collection bin. If you subscribe to organic collection service, pat yourself on the back! Then make sure you have the most up-to-date list of accepted materials from the county, city, or your service provider.
Only some facilities in our state accept compostable products such as bags, plates, and bowls. If you put compostable products into a collection bin where they are not accepted, the facility considers them contamination and picks them out. Facilities spend as much as 25% of their operating budget removing contaminants, so check local lists of accepted materials.
Compostable products should be placed in the trash if they are not accepted by your organics collection service.
Contact Patrick Merscher for information about Washington’s compostable product labeling laws.