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In its ongoing efforts to protect consumers from the increasingly sneaky "greenwashing" terms used by marketers, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has charged Kmart Corp. with making "false and unsubstantiated claims" that its private-label paper products are biodegradable.
In its settlement, Kmart has agreed to stop making deceptive "degradable" product claims for its American Fare private-label paper plates. "We relied on the vendor's documents to substantiate the claim," says a spokesperson for Sears Holding Corp., which owns Kmart. "And these plates are biodegradable in a backyard compost."
The problem, observers say, is that such rulings don't do much to eliminate consumer confusion. "It's not so much that Kmart is being called out for the inaccuracy of saying the product is biodegradable," says Liz Gorman, VP of corporate responsibility for Cone Inc., a leading brand strategist. "It's saying that the way most people dispose of paper plates, they'll never have a chance to."
"In truth and in fact," the FTC says in its complaint, "American Fare paper plates will not completely break down and return to nature, i.e., decompose into elements found in nature, within a reasonably short period of time because a substantial majority of total municipal solid waste is disposed of by methods that do not present conditions that would allow for American Fare paper plates to completely break down."
The charges, which also include two other companies, come at a time when the FTC is looking to crack down on greenwashers. Its first Green Guides were written in 1992, when the universe of green claims was relatively small. But with the explosion of environmental claims made on behalf of increasingly mainstream products, the group has taken steps to update its policies. Last year, it conducted three workshops to learn about how it can more effectively protect consumers from deceptive marketing practices.
At this point, Gorman says, "our research has shown us that 70% of consumers want to buy the product that is better for the environment, provided it fits their budget. They understand that there are some tradeoffs, and that few products are perfect, but they do want to lessen the impact they have on the environment with the goods they buy. They have a high level of confidence -- and right now, we know it is a false confidence -- that companies tell them the truth in their environmental claims."
Meanwhile, the FTC is trying to get a better read on the level of consumer confusion. Currently, it has a proposal with the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, "to see if we can conduct some consumer perception research this summer that will assist us in guiding industry on green claims," says Michael Davis, an attorney with the FTC. "It's important for us to know what consumers think. We're active in this area, and the public and the industry can expect us to continue hearing from us as the months go by. Stay tuned."
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A funny thing happened to me on the way to the local garbage dump. I discovered that my trash wasn’t biodegradable. The trash in the back of my truck was headed for a “Dry Tomb” landfill where my garbage will be compacted, covered with dirt, compacted some more and then layer upon layer the process will continue rendering my trash non-biodegradable. Archeologists thousands of years from now will be able to drill through these layers and just like Indiana Jones, find out how I lived by looking at what I threw away. In a traditional “Dry Tomb” landfill, the stuff isn’t going to go away, at least not very fast. We use our dry tomb landfills to hide our trash...keep it away from our sight and noses.
I was surprised yesterday, to see an interesting tidbit about our landfills in the press. The federal government (Federal Trade Commission) has determined that since things do not biodegrade in a landfill, any item that is disposed of by tossing it in the garbage cannot be called biodegradable. Why you ask? Well, things in a typical “Dry Tomb” landfill don’t biodegrade and that would include things that normally do biodegrade...like paper, and food waste. It seems that anything that isn’t burned or composted in a commercial composting site and is disposed of in a landfill....can no longer be called biodegradable.
Take PLA (Corn starch or other plant starch) plastics, most PLA plastic will end up in a landfill. Historically, 70-80 percent of plastics isn’t recycled and end up in our landfills, streams and oceans. PLA can’t be mixed in with the normal recycling stream with other plastics so most PLA will end up in a landfill. For proper disposal, PLA must be processed in a commercial composting site. Commercial composting sites in the U.S. are far and few between. Since most PLA will probably end up in a “Dry Tomb” landfill under the FTC ruling it should no not be considered/labeled as biodegradable plastic.
Let’s take another example, leftover food. If you dig a hole in your backyard and put your food scraps in the hole and cover it with dirt, your food scraps will biodegraded within two to three weeks. Food placed in a back yard hole would be considered biodegradable. Now, let’s take that same piece of lettuce and take it to our local garbage dump...oops; it’s no longer biodegradable (Assuming your landfill is the “Dry Tomb” type). However, if you happen to be lucky and your local landfill is a “Bioreactor landfill”, then paper, lettuce and a lot of other garbage will biodegrade.
Bioreactor landfills are designed to cause things to biodegrade and a bioreactor landfill is designed to capture biogases and turn those gases into clean energy. There are only a few bioreactor landfills in the U.S., they cost more to build then dry tomb landfills. Part of the problem is that due to compliance with EPA and other environmental regulations it take years of paperwork and meetings to get the building permits. It should be easier to build an environmentally friendly bioreactor landfill. Landfill operators have told me that it’s easier for landfill owners to maintain status quo and as one operator told me,” We have land for another 50-100 years, then it’s someone else’s problem.”
There are exceptions to every rule, and there are things that go into a dry tomb landfill that can be considered biodegradable. Anything that can biodegrade in an anaerobic environment will biodegrade in a dry tomb landfill. ENSO Bottles, and environmental company, realized that all plastics ultimately end up in a landfill and with more than 150 billion bottles being produced each year something needed to be done about reducing plastic pollution. ENSO is a supporter of recycling, an important part of conserving scarce resources and protecting our environment. However, less that 30 percent of plastic bottles are recycled, the remaining 100 plus billion bottles are ending up in our landfills, streams and oceans. ENSO recently announced the development of a modified PET plastic bottle that will biodegrade including in a “Dry Tomb” anaerobic landfill environment. ENSO Bottles have been tested to biodegrade in an anaerobic or aerobic microbial environment leaving behind natural elements of biogases and humus.
ENSO bottles with EcoPure™ have been tested and validated for the following:
(1) Recyclability through a third-party lab for ASTM D 1003 (Haze and Transmission). (2) ASTM D 4603 (Intrinsic Viscosity) (3) ASTM F 2013 (Acetaldehyde), Fluorescence Visual, and Visual Black Specks and Gels. (4) ASTM D 5511 Standard Test Methods, a standard for biodegradation testing in anaerobic environments. Results clearly indicate ENSO bottles with EcoPure™ biodegrade through natural microbial digestion.
To learn more about these solutions visit http://www.ensobottles.com and http://www.bio-tec.biz.
To request official test results contact: ENSO Bottles at 866-936-3676 or Bio-Tec 1-505-999-1160.