In today’s marketplace, trust is everything—especially when it comes to sustainability. In this thought-provoking article, GECA CEO Josh Begbie shares a personal story highlighting how even well-intentioned environmental claims can fall short and why third-party verification is essential for building lasting credibility. This is a must-read if you’re making sustainability claims about your products or services.
The other day at the supermarket, my 8-year-old son highlighted a bin liner we could purchase that was sold with a headline indicating it was made from 95% recycled material. Given our family’s commitment to sustainability, I was impressed by his observation and happily supported the purchase.
It wasn’t until we got home and opened the packaging that we saw the fine print indicating it was made from 95% pre-consumer recycled material—which is a much lesser value proposition (in my opinion) than if they were doing the hard work of sourcing post-consumer recycled material and reusing that.
Post-consumer recycled or PCR content helps divert waste from landfills and supports a circular economy by keeping materials in use for as long as possible. Reusing materials from post-consumer waste also decreases demand for virgin resources. In contrast, while pre-consumer recycled content involves repurposing manufacturing scraps and by-products, it doesn’t address consumer waste.
While the product’s headline statement and fine print are not directly contradictory, the difference certainly felt misleading. So much so that I remarked about my disappointment to my whole family, everyone I work with, and now on the internet. And the result? I won’t be buying that product again — and likely neither will anyone I’ve spoken to.
That’s a lose-lose-lose: for me, the brand, and their future customer trust. But this could have been a very different story.
If the original recycled content claim had been better formulated, the business responsible would have considered the product and its impact more carefully before embarking on a process that felt like greenwashing, whatever the lawyers might say.
By going through a process like GECA’s Claims Authentication, the company would’ve quickly learned that:
• The claim lacked clarity and could be interpreted misleadingly.
• Pre-consumer recycled content may not be a meaningful environmental benefit on its own — especially if consumers are likely to assume it refers to post-consumer content.
• Without third-party verification, they risk undermining consumer trust and inviting accusations of greenwashing, regardless of legal defensibility.
By contrast, a verified claim would have been:
• Clear and specific
• Aligned with best practice
• Backed by independent assessment
• Something the business could promote with confidence
That’s the difference between weakening your brand and strengthening it.
Had they done this right, they would have had new, loyal customers across their range of products that included me, my colleagues, and even my 8-year-old son as he grows up.
If you are making claims about recycled products or content and have not yet investigated getting those claims verified, do it now. It is potentially the fastest and cheapest way to ensure that you are strengthening your brand rather than detracting from it.
Don’t let a good intention backfire. Make your claims count — and make them credible. As an incentive, we are offering a 10% discount on the initial claims development and verification costs if you accept a proposal with us before 30 April 2025. Book a chat with our team to get started.
Josh Begbie, GECA CEO
