The international association Two Sides has been fighting since 2010 against false allegations on paper and the environment. And 2019 has been a particularly busy year for Two Sides members, with a record number of companies or organisations concerned by these greenwashing declarations.
Worldwide, in 2019, 388 organizations reported unsubstantiated claims about the impact of print and paper on the environment. These organizations were identified by Two Sides in Europe, North and South America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. After being contacted by the association, 131 of these companies or organizations deleted or modified their message.
Since the beginning of this anti-greenwashing action, Two Sides has had the information of more than 500 organizations corrected. And in France, more specifically, the rate of correction of environmental claims is 61%.
"Not only do these claims violate advertising rules, but they are extremely damaging to an industry with a strong and improving environmental record." says Jonathan Tame of the Two Sides World Team. "Many organisations we contacted are very surprised to learn that the area of Europe's forests has increased by the equivalent of 1,500 football fields every day."
Among the most frequently used erroneous messages, Two Sides cites the "dematerialization" of invoices or account statements (dematerialization does not exist, the association points out) and the protection of trees and forests (while the paper industry uses by-products of forest and wood maintenance).
