The Advertisement Board adopted the Guideline for Environmental Claims in Advertising (“Guideline”) at its meeting on December 13, 2022, and it has been made public. The Guideline’s goal is to educate individuals, institutions, and organizations on the legal requirements for environmental claims made in commercial advertisements and on business practices used by advertisers, ad agencies, and media companies.
Key points of the Guideline;
An “environmental claim” is a statement or visual that relates to environmental advantages or that the components, manufacturing process, supply process, use, or destruction of the promoted goods or services do not have adverse environmental consequences.
General terms like “green,” “sustainable,” “eco,” “nature friendly,” “environment friendly,” “environmentalist slogans,” “zero waste,” “recyclable,” “safe for the environment,” “efficient for the environment,” “carbon neutral,” “renewable,” and “green energy” shouldn’t be used without clarification or in a way that leaves consumers with questions.
Advertisements should include specific information about the environmental claim, including what it is about, for whom and how it is used, whether it is entirely or partially related to the product’s life cycle, and a description of the methods used to measure and assess the relevant environmental impacts.
Environmental claims pertaining to the legal requirements and specifications that products, services, or advertisers must meet, as well as components and practices that should not typically be used, cannot be communicated in a way that gives the impression that the aforementioned products, processes, or businesses are superior to or different from those of their competitors or equivalents.
Advertisements that make environmental claims must expressly state which piece, component, or step of the advertised goods or services they apply to.
Advertisements may only make environmental claims about the intended future environmental effects of products or services if those claims are part of a strategic plan that is both publicly disclosed and verifiable.
Consumers must be specifically informed as to whether environmental claims about “biodegradable,” “soluble,” or “recyclable” features of goods apply to the entire product, including its packaging, or just a portion of it, as well as when biodegradability and composting procedures are applicable and whether doing so necessitates the use of specialized equipment that is difficult to come by or other additional steps.
In particular, whether the advertiser compares the mentioned product with its own prior products from the same brand or with products from its competitors, the comparison made through comparative environmental claims contained in advertisements must be explicitly communicated.
Any messaging that is incompatible with sustainable consumption understanding—such as messaging that downplays the gravity of consumer actions that contribute to waste accumulation or pollution of the environment or that promotes non-recyclable packaging or tells people to ignore how their actions affect the environment—must be avoided.
The Guideline has proposed specific regulations for “certificates and approvals,” “claims related to degradability,” “claims related to recyclability,” “claims related to recycled substance,” “claims related to renewable energy,” and “claims connected to reclaimed water.”
Evaluation
There are now much more environmental claims in advertising. The Advertisement Board makes decisions regarding environmental claims in accordance with provisions of the Regulation on Commercial Advertisement and Unfair Commercial Practices as well as Consumer Protection Law, taking into account the sensitivity caused by such advertisements on the part of consumers and their serious environmental effects.
This guideline is intended to help the Advertisement Board develop uniform practices for advertisers and effectively guide advertisers. The Guideline is accessible on the Advertisement Board’s official website, which can be accessed by clicking the following link:
https://tuketici.ticaret.gov.tr/duyurular/cevreye-iliskin-beyanlar-iceren-reklamlar-hakkinda-kilavuz
