The Competition and Markets Authority has instructed ASOS, Boohoo and Asda to change the way they display, describe and promote their green credentials. The warning comes after the CMA launched an investigation into ASOS, Boohoo and George at Asda to scrutinise their green fashion claims in July 2022, having identified concerns of possible greenwashing during its initial review of the fashion sector.

The CMA said these commitments set a benchmark for how fashion retailers should be marketing their products, and in a separate open letter to the industry, said that it expects the entire fashion sector to “take note and review their own practices”.

All three firms must also regularly provide the CMA with reports on how they are complying with the commitments they signed – as well as taking steps to improve their internal processes.

Sarah Cardell, chief executive at the CMA, said: “Following our action, the millions of people who shop with these well-known businesses can now have confidence in the green claims they see. This also marks a turning point for the industry.”

The three retailers together make over £4.4bn annually from UK fashion sales.


New rules around green claims (Source: CMA)

The three firms have each signed undertakings that commit them to an agreed set of rules around the use of green claims. Amongst other things, these include:

• Green claims: ASOS, Boohoo and George at Asda must ensure all green claims are accurate and not misleading. Key information must be clear and prominent, meaning it must be expressed in plain language, easy to read and clearly visible to shoppers.

• Statements regarding fabrics: Statements made about materials in green ranges must be specific and clear, such as ‘organic’ or ‘recycled’, rather than ambiguous – eg., using terms like ‘eco’, ‘responsible’, or ‘sustainable’ without further explanation. The percentage of recycled or organic fibres must be clearly displayed and easy for customers to see. A product cannot be called ‘recycled’ or ‘organic’ unless it meets certain criteria.

• Criteria for green ranges: The criteria used to decide which products are included in environmental collections – such as ASOS’s former ‘Responsible edit’, Boohoo’s ‘Ready for the Future’ range and George at Asda’s ‘George for Good’ and any further ranges – must be clearly set out and detail any minimum requirements. For example, if products need to contain a certain percentage of recycled fibres to be included in the range, this should be made clear. Products must not be marketed or labelled as part of an environmental range unless they meet all the relevant criteria.

• Use of imagery: The firms must not use ‘natural’ imagery – such as green leaves – logos, or icons in a way that suggests a product is more environmentally friendly than it actually is.

• Product filters: Search filters must be accurate, only showing items that meet the filter requirements – for example, if a consumer uses a filter to show ‘recycled’ trousers, only trousers made from predominantly recycled materials should be shown.

• Environmental targets: Any claims made to consumers about environmental targets must be supported by a clear and verifiable strategy and customers must be able to access more details about it. Such information should include what the target is aiming to achieve, the date by which it is expected to be met and how the company in question will seek to achieve that target.

• Accreditation schemes: Statements made by the companies about accreditation schemes and standards must not be misleading. For example, statements must make clear whether an accreditation applies to particular products or to the firm’s wider practices.

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