AGCM (Competition and market authority authority) inflicted on Shein, giant of Fast fashiona fine of 1 million euros for environmental advertising deemed deceptive. According to Antitrustust, the Fast Fashion giant would have spread messages that suggest a concrete commitment to sustainability, without providing clear and verifiable information about it. The investigation highlighted the use of so -called Green claim – statements that underline alleged environmental benefits such as “Evolusushein” – which have been judged as vague, generic and sometimes misleading. This sanction highlights a wider problem: the phenomenon of greenwashing, or the strategy by which some companies arise as ecological without their productive practices being really.
Shein and the Greenwashing story
According to what was ascertained, Shein, through the Infinite Styles Services Co. Ltd company, the brand’s activities in Europe has used on its portal and on sections such as “#Sheintheknow”, “Evolusushein” and “social responsibility” declarations on the commitment to environmental sustainability judged out of the way. In some cases, the statements concerned concepts such as “design of a circular system” or the complete recyclability of the products, but without explaining precisely how this happened. This communication could potentially have led consumers to believe that shein garments had a reduced environmental impact compared to reality.
A critical point is the “Evolushein by Design” line, presented as made with fibers considered more sustainable. The antitrust, however, noted that these descriptions lacked details on the real environmental benefits during the entire life cycle of the product and that the collection represents only a marginal part with respect to the overall offer of the brand. In addition, the messages erroneously suggested that the garments were completely recyclable, which was not true based on the fibers actually used for the garments in question and the recycled technologies available.
Another aspect concerns the objectives declared by the company in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions: – 25% by 2030 and resetting emissions by 2050. These promises, however, have been considered generic and contradicted by the increase in emissions by Shein in recent years, in stark contrast to the image of environmental responsibility promoted on the site.
Codacons’ comment
Codacons in commenting on the story, reported that:
These practices are able to deviate the choices of consumers, increasingly attentive to sustainable and respectful purchases of the environment, and alter the market, diverting hundreds of millions of euros every year in terms of purchases of commercial products»And adding that”The fine of the Antitrustust assumes enormous relevance, and must now lead to similar sanctioning measures to all the companies that deceive consumers through false messages on environmental sustainability.
