Substantiating Microplastic-Free Marketing Claims

The Green Guides in brief

The Federal Trade Commission's Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims, known as the Green Guides, are the primary US framework for environmental marketing. First issued in 1992 and last revised in 2012, they explain how the FTC applies its general truth-in-advertising authority to green claims. The Guides are guidance rather than binding regulation, but the FTC enforces the underlying principle through Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits deceptive practices, and some states have incorporated the Guides into state law. California, for example, makes it unlawful to make environmental marketing claims that are false, deceptive, or misleading, with the Green Guides folded into that standard. A revision of the Guides has been pending since the FTC requested public comment in 2022, so the 2012 version remains current.

What the framework expects of a free-of claim

Two principles matter most for a microplastic-free claim. First, environmental claims need substantiation: a reasonable basis, which for objective claims generally means competent and reliable evidence, before the claim is made. Second, the Guides address free-of claims specifically. A free-of claim can be deceptive if the product contains the substance in more than trace amounts, if the substance was never associated with the product category in the first place, or if the product uses a substitute that poses a similar risk. Applied to microplastics, a brand should be able to document what its product contains, not simply assert what it lacks.

Where third-party certification fits

The Guides also address certifications and seals of approval. An independent certification can support a claim, and the Guides treat third-party certification as a form of endorsement, which means the certifier should be genuinely independent and the basis for certification should be clear. Importantly, certification does not transfer the marketer's responsibility: a brand remains responsible for substantiating its own claims even when certified. What certification adds is documented, criteria-based evidence from an independent reviewer, which is precisely the kind of material a substantiation file is built from.

What a substantiation file looks like

For a microplastic-free claim, a defensible file typically contains the product's bill of materials, supplier specifications and attestations for each material, records of any relevant testing the suppliers performed, documentation of the review conducted against a published standard, and the certification determination itself. Our certification process produces most of this by design: the CMF review is a documentation review against the published CMF Standard v1.0, it results in a written determination, and each certified product carries a certificate number that anyone can check on our verification page. Brands making the claim without that structure carry the burden alone.

This article is general information about the regulatory framework, not legal advice. Brands should consult their own counsel about specific claims.

Getting started

If your products already carry a microplastic-free claim, certification formalizes it. Review the certification criteria and apply. The eligibility screening is free.