Shein’s claims regarding its emissions reduction targets were also contradicted by an actual increase in its GHG emissions in 2023 and 2024, the AGCM said.
The Italian competition authority (AGCM) has fined Dublin-based company Infinite Styles Services, which manages Shein’s trading websites in Europe, €1m for greenwashing.
The Chinese e-retail giant Shein has gained worldwide popularity in recent years for its fast and “disposable fashion”, bringing in around $38bn in global sales last year, according to the Financial Times.
The company established its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) headquarters in Dublin in 2023.
In a statement issued yesterday (4 August), the AGCM said that Shein uses “misleading and/or deceptive” environmental claims while promoting its clothing products.
On its website, as well as in other promotional pages, Shein has disseminated environmental claims under #SheinInTheKnow, #EvoluShein and Social Responsibility sections, that were, in some cases, misleading or vague, the watchdog said.
According to the watchdog, the company claims to use “green fibres” in its ‘EvoluShein by Design’ line without specifying the environmental benefits throughout the full life cycle. It said that some of the environmental assertions it advertised regarding the recyclability of its products were either false, or “at least confusing”.
Without adequate information, consumers may be led to believe that its products are recyclable and made solely from sustainable materials. However, this “does not reflect reality”, the watchdog said.
In addition, claims made by the company about its intention to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25pc by 2030 and to reach zero emissions by 2050 were contradicted by an actual increase in Shein’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 and 2024, the AGCM found.
The AGCM is not the first to find that Shein has made false environmental claims. Earlier this year, the European Commission and the EU’s Consumer Protection Cooperation Network found that Shein breached the region’s consumer laws by providing deceptive information about the sustainability aspects of its products.
The EU investigation also found that the company displays incomplete and incorrect information about consumers’ legal rights to return purchased products and receive refunds – and even fails to process returns and refunds in line with those rights.
False environmental claims, often referred to as greenwashing, make it difficult for consumers to make more environmentally friendly purchasing decisions even when they want to.
Research shows that people struggle to distinguish between greenwashing and genuine sustainability claims, even when they are trained to spot greenwashing tactics. Greenwashing tactics used by businesses instead lead to confusion and scepticism when buyers are faced with genuine environmental claims.
“Corporations spend vast sums of money crafting messages that give themselves a green veneer and deceive ordinary people. The public doesn’t stand a chance,” Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan told SiliconRepublic.com last year.
“I’ve long said greenwashing creates a general cynicism towards climate action, even genuine climate action and the research bears that out.”
Shein competitor Temu, whose parent company is based in Dublin, was recently found to have breached the EU’s Digital Services Act by failing to properly assess the risks of non-compliant products being sold on its online marketplace.
Assessments have shown that products purchased from Temu, such as toys contain illegal amounts of borates – which can damage the reproductive system – and hormone-disrupting chemicals called phthalates.
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