ACCC takes GLAD-bag manufacturer Clorox Australia to court over ocean plastic claims

The competition watchdog has taken the manufacturer of GLAD-branded kitchen and garbage bags to court for allegedly making false claims its products were made of recycled “ocean plastic”.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on Thursday said it had instituted proceedings in the Federal Court against Clorox Australia.

It alleged Clorox represented its GLAD Kitchen Tidy Bags and Garbage Bags to be made up of 50 per cent recycled “ocean plastic” collected from an ocean or sea, when that was not the case.

The ACCC said these GLAD bags were instead partly made from plastic collected from communities in Indonesia — up to 50km from a shoreline — and not from the ocean or sea. This was in breach of the Australian Consumer Law, it said.

“We allege that the headline ‘ocean plastic’ statements and wave imagery on the GLAD bag packaging, and the use of blue-coloured bags, created the impression that these GLAD bags were made from plastic waste collected from the ocean or sea, when this was not the case,” ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.

“We are concerned that, by its alleged conduct, Clorox deprived consumers of the opportunity to make informed purchasing decisions, and may have put other businesses making genuine environmental claims at an unfair disadvantage.”

Ms Cass-Gottlieb said consumers were increasingly choosing the products they buy based on their environmental impact.

She said consumers must be able to rely on the environmental claims made by businesses as being accurate.

“This action reflects our enforcement priority to take action against businesses making false or misleading environmental claims,” she said.

Both GLAD Kitchen Tidy Bags and Garbage Bags products were reportedly withdrawn from supply to retailers in July 2023.