‘Greenwashing’ can be defined as disinformation disseminated by an organisation to present an environmentally responsible public image.
The Environment Agency is aiming to make it simpler for businesses and for the public to understand the environmental performances of companies in key areas such as greenhouse gas reduction and resource efficiency.
The initiative will help manufacturers to more effectively communicate their environmental performance to the public, minimising the opportunity for ‘greenwashing’.
Project lead Becca Tremain, of the Environment Agency, said: “One of the big challenges for food businesses trying to mitigate climate change is how to communicate their environmental performance that goes beyond legal compliance effectively and efficiently.
“Different food businesses have developed and adopted various environmental metrics and it can be time-consuming for food businesses to collect data from different supplier systems. This project seeks to address this challenge by standardising environmental metrics for food businesses that go beyond legal compliance.”