How Sincere Are the New ‘Green’ Marketers? : Environment: Big business, propelled by consumer demand, is rolling out products supposed to be ecologically safe. But are they?

It was the type of breakthrough that environmentalists had longed for: strong plastics that would “degrade” harmlessly when exposed to light or air and water. But soon after Mobil Chemical Co. and other manufacturers began marketing their versions of the plastics, consumer groups such as the Environmental Defense Fund went on the attack.

Three months ago, they called for a nationwide boycott of those products, including Mobil’s Hefty and First Brands Corp.’s Glad trash bags, as well as Nappies, TenderCare and Bunnies disposable diapers, which contain a cornstarch-based additive developed by Archer Daniels Midland Co.

Opponents say these degradable plastics won’t decay anytime soon in the dry, light-starved recesses of landfills, where the bulk of America’s garbage rests. “They are perpetuating a myth that we can throw materials away and they will magically disappear,” said Richard Denison, senior scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund. “If you put the word recyclable or degradable on a box, there’s simply a presumption by the public that this is a good thing.”

Propelled by consumer demand, big business is embracing environmentalism as never before. Since 1986, the number of new “green” products--which claim to help shoppers cut down on solid waste, pollution and the depredation of nonrenewable resources--grew at a rate 20 times faster than all other new packaged goods, according to Marketing Intelligence Service Ltd. of Naples, N.Y.

In a scenario recalling the oat-bran craze, hundreds of products soon may be trumpeting their recycled, recyclable or biodegradable features, making the category so competitive that, “within two years you won’t be able to introduce a product,” said Simon Williams, president of the Michael Peters Group, a package-design firm.

As the products multiply, government officials and consumer watchdogs want to ensure that the claims made are valid. Just last week, the White House set an important precedent by approving new rules barring health claims on food packages. To keep environmental claims in check, Minnesota has joined New York, five other states and the Federal Trade Commission in demanding scientific substantiation of claimed environmental benefits from at least four companies. The government groups are demanding research reports explaining how, for example, plastic bags will degrade in landfills that are sealed from sunlight, water and air.

“Part of the problem here in environmental advertising lies with certain terms-- degradability and others--that suggest that products are good and safe in the environment but in fact are ambiguous and confusing,” said Timothy Gilles, director of policy and communications at the New York attorney general’s office.

Spokesmen at attorney general offices in several states wouldn’t name the companies they’re questioning, but they say that among the firms are a plastic-bag manufacturer; a maker of disposable, degradable diapers; a fast-food company using plastic-foam containers; and a manufacturer of the cornstarch additive contained in degradable plastic. A Mobil spokesman confirmed that his company had received a request to supply documentation.

Among others putting “green” marketers under scrutiny: the federal Environmental Protection Agency, which is expected to release its first report to Congress this week on the role of plastics in the waste stream. The 500-page study urges more research on the subject and is sure to reignite discussion among lawmakers about environmental claims.

The Alliance for Social Responsibility, a coalition of environmentalists and scientists, plans to propose a seal of approval to help consumers identify ecologically safe products.

A new nationally distributed shopper’s guide published by the New York Public Interest Research Group sharply criticizes Glad, Hefty and other products for making claims of degradability. It also blasts several brand-name supermarket products and their packagings as adding needlessly to the garbage crisis.

And the Environmental Defense Fund and other groups are calling on supermarkets to refrain from using plastic bags that claim degradability and to instead supply shoppers with reusable bags for carrying home merchandise.

The EPA isn’t convinced that degradable plastics are helpful. “There have been laboratory studies on the materials, but there haven’t been too many field assessments in how these materials work in specific environmental settings--in water, in a landfill, in a compost pile,” said Susan Mooney, an EPA environmental scientist.

“At one time there was an infatuation with the concept that there was a silver bullet out there,” said Edward Stana, executive director of the Council on Plastics and Packaging in the Environment. “Degradable anything in solid waste is not a benefit to the environment and indeed can cause adverse impacts on the environment. Modern landfills today are built to absolutely minimize any degradation, so degrading wouldn’t occur.”