Clorox fined A$8.25m over 'ocean plastic' claim on garbage bags
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
Australia's Federal Court ordered Clorox to pay A$8.25m over 'ocean plastic' claims on GLAD bags, in an action brought by the competition regulator. The plastic was collected from Indonesian settlements up to 50 km inland from the coast.
What happened
InDaily reported that the Federal Court on 14 April 2025 imposed an A$8.25m penalty on Clorox over 'ocean plastic' claims on GLAD bags.
InDaily reported that the plastic in the bags was collected from Indonesian settlements up to 50 km inland from the coast, and that the court accepted the company genuinely believed the claim and did not mislead deliberately.
The UK Food Standards Agency said there is no agreed definition of 'ocean plastic'. A certification scheme (Control Union) counts plastic collected within 50 km of the coast.
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
- 2025-04-14Claimant wonACCC action over Clorox GLAD 'ocean plastic' bag claimsFederal Court of Australia · Civil · Australian Competition and Consumer Commission → Clorox (GLAD brand)
The court imposed an A$8.25m penalty over 'ocean plastic' claims. The court accepted that the company genuinely believed the claim and did not mislead deliberately. InDaily
Insurers
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- None on record The sources reviewed give no source link for the statement that the term has no agreed definition.
- None on record The 50 km figure comes from a 2015 study that did not use the term; no source link is given.
- None on record Clorox's own response to the penalty is not stated in the sources reviewed.
- None on record The sources reviewed do not say whether the bags' labelling has changed.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Company or project
- Ocean-bound plastic (OBP) certification programmeControl Union ·
Press and investigations
- Glad rubbish bag fined over plastic claimInDaily · 2025-04-14
Connected cases
- Adidas x Parley ocean plastic shoes International · 2015–2024
- Control Union (Standard-setter) — here: Certification scheme defining ocean-bound plastic; there: Certifier of the ocean-bound plastic program (with Zero Plastic Oceans)
- Australian regulator loses case against Woolworths over biodegradable claim Australia · 2024–2025
- Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) (Government) — here: Competition regulator that brought the action; there: Regulator that brought the case; lost
- Clorox penalised AUD 8.25 million over GLAD 'ocean plastic' bag claims in Australia Australia · 2021–2025
- Clorox (Company) — here: Penalised over the GLAD 'ocean plastic' claim; there: defendant; AUD 8.25 million penalty
- Egg producer penalised by Australian regulator for misleading free-range claims Australia · 2014–2016
- Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) (Government) — here: Competition regulator that brought the action; there: regulator that issued the penalty
- Murray-Darling irrigation efficiency subsidies, Australia, 2008 to 2018 Australia · 2008–2018
- Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) (Government) — here: Competition regulator that brought the action; there: Ran the water-markets inquiry