How to spot misleading plastic-free claims

A plastic-free claim should tell you which part of the product it covers, and what that part is made of. If a label relies on words like "eco", "natural" or "biodegradable" and won't name the materials, treat the claim as unproven until you've checked.

Many misleading claims aren't outright lies. They're true of one part of a product, or true only in certain conditions. Once you know the common patterns, they're fairly quick to spot.

What are the rules?

UK businesses can't mislead you about a product's environmental impact. Two sets of rules are most relevant:

• The Green Claims Code, from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), explains how consumer law applies. Claims must be truthful and accurate, clear and unambiguous, and must not omit or hide important information.
• The Advertising Codes, enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), require advertisers to hold evidence for their claims and to make the basis of environmental claims clear.

Since April 2025, the CMA has been able to decide for itself whether consumer law has been broken, and can fine a company up to 10% of its global turnover. That raises the stakes for businesses, but it doesn't mean every claim on the shelf has been checked. Nobody checks them all in advance, so it still pays to read carefully.

What does "plastic-free" actually mean?

This is the first thing to pin down, because there's no single meaning in everyday use. Companies may use it for packaging only, and some use a narrow idea of what plastic is.

A 2025 ASA ruling shows why that matters. It concerned laundry capsules and dishwasher tablets from OceanSaver, advertised as "plastic-free" and with "zero microplastics", though they used a dissolvable film of PVOH, a water-soluble synthetic polymer. The ASA said consumers would take the claims to mean that the product and its packaging contained no plastic and wouldn't degrade into microplastics. It found that the company hadn't substantiated this. It also noted that leaving PVOH out of a microplastics regulation didn't in itself show it wasn't a plastic or a source of microplastics.

On this site, our definition of plastic applies part by part, and it includes silicone, bio-based plastics and polymer coatings. Some products that are fairly described as plastic-free elsewhere won't meet it, so look at what a seller is counting.

Which claims should you question?

"Biodegradable". The important question is where, and how quickly. In 2026 the ASA ruled against "biodegradable" baby wipe claims, finding that evidence on the viscose fibre alone didn't show that whole wipes would break down in real-world conditions. An earlier ruling on dog waste bags made from polyethylene with a pro-oxidant additive found they wouldn't biodegrade in the landfill or incineration they were likely to end up in.

"Compostable". Ask whether this means your own compost heap. In 2025 the ASA upheld complaints about "compostable" coffee capsules and bags that were actually certified for industrial composting, because consumers would expect to compost them at home. The CMA says conditions like these should be explained.

"Plant-based" and "bio-based". These describe what something is made from, not whether it's plastic. See is PLA plastic?

"Bamboo". This word often appears on composites and fibres. Most bamboo cups and plates are powder bound with a plastic resin, as our guide to bamboo tableware explains. The CMA's own example of a misleading claim is a shampoo in a bamboo shell labelled "natural", with a plastic bottle glued inside that the shopper can't see until later. In 2026 the ASA also ruled against claims such as "100% sustainable bamboo fibre" because they weren't qualified or backed by life-cycle evidence.

"Eco", "green", "sustainable" and "kinder to the planet". Regulators treat broad terms like these as big promises. The ASA has ruled that "eco" nappies and wipes implied no environmental harm across the product's whole life, and that an unqualified claim of "sustainable clothing" was unclear and likely to mislead. Limited claims about a specific feature are usually more honest.

"Recyclable". Check what it applies to. The CMA warns against implying a whole product can be recycled when only the packaging can. For more on the wider picture, see our guide to plastic-free shopping.

"Saves X pieces of plastic from the ocean". Ask how they know. In the same OceanSaver ruling, the ASA found that sales figures didn't show the claimed plastic had been kept out of the sea.

Green colours and nature pictures add to the impression too. The ASA takes imagery into account when deciding what an ad implies, so a leaf on the label isn't evidence of anything.

Five checks before you buy

1. Find the material names. Look for each part: body, lid, seal, coating, handle and packaging. "Natural materials" isn't a material.
2. Ask what the claim covers. Is it the product, the packaging or just one component? Is a percentage attached, and a percentage of what?
3. Look for the disposal instructions. A biodegradable or compostable claim without clear disposal details is incomplete. If it needs industrial composting, check whether you can actually get it there.
4. Search the listing for the hidden words. "Resin", "binder", "composite", "PLA", "PVA" or "PVOH", "silicone" and "polymer" all change the picture.
5. Ask the seller. A company with good evidence can usually tell you what its product is made of. A vague reply is useful information too.

The same care applies to chemical claims. Our guide to "BPA-free" labels explains one common example, and a US study covered in our PFAS guide found that green assurances didn't reliably indicate that products were free of those chemicals.

What about laws that use the term?

Legal bans can help, but they're narrow. England's ban on plastic wet wipes starts on 19 May 2027, and plastic-free wipes aren't affected, so expect to see more of that wording soon. In some cases, simply avoiding the question is easier, as with cloth wipes, or powder in place of pods.

If you think a claim is misleading

You can complain to the ASA about an advert, or report a product to Citizens Advice, which can pass cases to Trading Standards. Include a screenshot, the wording used and why you think it's wrong. More ways to cut plastic are on the home and shopping hub.