Episode 102: ‘Navigating Greenwashing and Green Claims - 4-Part Mini Series’, Part 3 - Katie-Scarlett Wetherall, Lawyer, ClientEarth

In this episode of the Can Marketing Save the Planet? podcast, we continue on our navigating green claims and greenwashing mini-series speaking with Katie Wetherall, a lawyer at ClientEarth about the brilliant work they do and taking a deep dive into the world of plastics, packaging and recycling.

It’s no secret that marketing tactics in this area are long overdue a review. Clever marketing can mislead consumers with what are essentially false sustainability claims - particularly, when one takes into account the bigger picture and lifecycle of the product they appear on.

Katie shares with us her insights from legal actions ClientEarth has taken against major corporations such as BP, Total Energies and KLM for misleading claims. In the case of KLM, she explains, “the Dutch court ruled that their claims about the sustainability of flying were misleading and in fact the judge said they painted a far too rosier picture about these kind of high emission activities and the company's compliance with things like the Paris Agreement.” A lot of Katie’s work focuses on greenwashing legal actions and increasingly the area of plastics and consumer goods. The reality of plastic recycling is woeful, Katie shares, “only 9% of all plastic ever produced has been recycled, yet companies continue to label products as "100% recyclable, and even in the UK which has got quite an established sophisticated waste management system the stats hover at around 55%. So I think as an organisation, we argue that that green loop, (sometimes it's a triangle), but that circular symbol, gives a misleading impression of the circularity of plastic.”

We go on to talk about the many different challenges of single use plastic; packaging, descriptors and labelling which we see everywhere on products across our everyday lives. Using green symbols and imagery is an area that Katie advises, “I would discourage Marketers from putting the recyclability of a product at the forefront of its marketing, because this is a process they have no control over and which statistics suggest does not work.”

There is a lot of great insight and advice shared in this episode which will apply to a lot of organisations, Marketers and products.

Tune in as we talk to Katie about:

• The problem with recycling symbols and should they even be allowed when they don’t guarantee recyclability?

• The need for Marketers to consider the green claims they are making across the lifecycle of their products.

• The need to prioritise transparency

• Shifting to reusable packaging models – not relying on broken recycling systems

• Supporting people to make informed decisions

• How greenhushing doesn’t solve the problem

  For more information about ClientEarth and the great work they do - visit https://www.clientearth.org/

  And, if you’re looking to upskill your team with the green claims landscape - be sure to check out our 3 hour Greenwashing 101 short training course via our Sustainable Marketing Training Hub.

  One more episode in this mini-series to follow, talking ‘agency side’ with Fanclub PR. Stay tuned.

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