ClientEarth has sued Nestlé Poland for „misleading advertising“ for its Nałęczowianka water brand. The environmental rights organisation accuses the company of misleading consumers with recycling claims on the bottles and multipacks.
The lawsuit was filed with the Regional Court in Warsaw on 17 September 2025 after out-of-court negotiations failed to produce any results. The labels of Nałęczowianka products contain statements such as „I am made of 100 % recycled PET plastic (*excluding cap and label)“, „I come from another bottle“ and „I am recyclable“. According to ClientEarth, such statements give the false impression that single-use plastic is not harmful to the environment and can be fully recycled.
According to ClientEarth, around 460 million tonnes of plastic are produced worldwide every year, around two thirds of which is used for disposable products. Only a fraction of this is recycled - around nine per cent globally. According to the Institute for Environmental Protection, the actual recycling rate in Poland is only around 40 per cent of the plastic waste collected for recycling.
„Consumer deception through recycling claims“
An Ipsos survey commissioned by ClientEarth in 2024 showed that consumers often perceive recycling labels on plastic packaging as environmentally positive - even though recycling does not make plastic climate-neutral. 80 per cent of respondents in Poland and Germany believed that products with a recycling logo are actually recycled, provided they are disposed of correctly. According to ClientEarth, only around 30 per cent of plastic bottles collected in the EU are actually recycled into new bottles.
Legal action against greenwashing on the rise
According to ClientEarth, the organisation is campaigning against misleading sustainability claims across Europe. Back in 2023, the organisation supported a complaint by the European Consumer Organisation BEUC against Coca-Cola, Nestlé and Danone for similar advertising claims about „100 % recycled“ and „100 % recyclable“ bottles. The EU Commission has since reached an agreement with Coca-Cola to remove the corresponding claims. Proceedings are also underway in the USA and France against large corporations for greenwashing plastic packaging.
Source: ClientEarth
