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A setback for ClimatePartner, the next victory for Werner & Mertz in the fight against greenwashing: Stuttgart Regional Court has banned the advertising of a vinegar cleaner as supposedly "climate neutral". The advertising was categorised as misleading and anti-competitive.
At the request of the Mainz-based family business, the Regional Court of Stuttgart prohibited the advertising of Hygreen vinegar cleaner as supposedly "climate-neutral" in its judgement of 30 December 2022 (case no. 53 O 169/22). The vinegar cleaner was both on the product packaging and on the company website prominently advertised with the statement "climate-neutral vinegar cleaner" and the ClimatePartner logo "climate-neutral product". The Regional Court of Stuttgart categorised this advertising as misleading and anti-competitive.
Hygreen had to admit in court that it had not recorded all the emissions caused by its vinegar cleaner throughout the entire product life cycle. In particular, they have excluded the emissions from the disposal phase. Accordingly, not all of the CO2 emissions caused could have been offset, which is why the statement "climate-neutral vinegar cleaner" is obviously false.
The Regional Court of Stuttgart has also put a stop to another widespread practice. It has stated, that the unrestricted advertising of climate neutrality is inadmissible if the supposed neutrality is achieved exclusively through the purchase of CO2 certificates. Rather, it requires "the advertising company's own efforts to improve its purchasing, production and/or transport processes". The court was unable to recognise such reduction measures at Hygreen.
emissions to an unavoidable level
If a company wants to advertise with the claim "climate neutral" without further explanation, it is not sufficient to take any pro forma reduction measures, the court also clarified. Unrestricted advertising with the claim "climate-neutral product" is only possible, if the advertising company has actually reduced the carbon footprint of the product to an unavoidable level. Hygreen could not explain this either.
The fact that only 30 per cent of Hygreen's bottle bodies are made from recycled plastic shows that there is still plenty of potential for Hygreen to make savings in this respect. while PET bottles from Werner & Mertz have been made from 100 per cent post-consumer recyclate since 201450 per cent of this now comes from household collections such as the Yellow Bag.
"Anyone who only buys CO2 certificates from often dubious climate protection projects without significantly reducing their own carbon footprint, is greenwashing in our opinion. This is nothing other than a modern-day indulgence trade. The court judgement confirms this."
Reinhard Schneider, Werner & Mertz owner
Finally, of particular importance is the court's finding that restrictive statements must always be "placed on the means of communication used for advertising itself". Hygreen's reference to further information on the company's website is therefore not sufficient for the court if the packaging of the cleaning agent is advertised as a "climate-neutral product".
"The consequence of this case law is that the unpleasant truths about excluded emissions and reduction measures that have not been implemented from an advertising perspective can no longer be concealed or hidden on a website", says Schneider. It remains to be seen whether Hygreen will appeal against the judgement in view of the clear and unambiguous words of the Stuttgart Regional Court.
Werner & Mertz and its subsidiary tana-Chemie have already taken action several times in recent months against competitors who have advertised their companies or products as supposedly "climate neutral".
Source: Werner & Mertz
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