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The UK competition regulator has closed an investigation into whether Unilever overstated how “green” some of its products were, after the consumer goods company made changes to some of its packaging.
The Competition and Markets Authority said on Wednesday that the probe, which it announced in December, had been closed following “changes Unilever has made to claims on some of its products”, as well as wider changes the agency has seen across the industry following the regulator’s focus on this area.
The CMA said last year that it was looking at some of the environmental claims made by the maker of Dove and Lynx over concerns the manufacturer may be overstating how “natural” some of its household essentials such as cleaning products and toiletries were.
The CMA was also concerned that the use of some images and logos — such as green leaves — could make items appear more eco-friendly than they really were.
“The CMA’s Green Claims Code and successful enforcement action to date has helped businesses understand how they can promote their green credentials whilst staying on the right side of the law,” the regulator said in a statement.
“The CMA has seen positive changes to the claims made including in the fast-moving consumer goods sector. Given these points, and the ongoing impact of the CMA’s work, the CMA has decided as a matter of administrative priority to close this investigation,” the agency added.
The competition regulator said it had not taken a view on Unilever’s compliance with consumer law. Unilever did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The CMA has done a range of investigations into greenwashing over the past few years. Asos, Boohoo and George at Asda pledged in March to make only “accurate and clear” environmental claims following an investigation by the competition watchdog.
The CMA opened the investigation into the retailers in 2022 over concerns that the eco-friendly language the companies were using was “too broad and vague”, and there was a lack of information provided to customers, such as a failure to indicate what fabric a product was made from.
