Slapping a chasing-arrows symbol or the word “compostable” on a package feels harmless, but the FTC treats unsupported environmental claims as a form of deceptive advertising, enforceable under the same law that governs any other false ad. The rules live in a document called the Green Guides, and while they’re technically non-binding “guidance” rather than a statute, the FTC uses them as the yardstick when it brings enforcement actions, so in practice they function as the compliance bar for every brand printing labels.
This guide walks through what the Green Guides say about recyclable and compostable claims specifically, when you need a qualifier like “check locally,” and the mistakes that most often turn a well-intentioned label into a legal problem.
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Photo: Syced / CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.