Lexicon of fashion greenwashing: what do “circular”, “sustainable” and “zero waste” really mean?

It's no news that greenwashing is rampant in the fashion industry. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the European Union have pledged to crack down on companies using environmentally friendly marketing messages to mislead consumers.

The problem is the misapplication of vague, sound technical terms to products in an industry with little regulatory oversight. In the first installment of our greenwashing glossary, we ask experts to decode some of the most common terms you'll find in fashion. If there are other greenwashing terms you are interested in, please let us know in the comments below.

To be "carbon neutral" ( or net zero), a company must remove as much carbon from the atmosphere as it emits. Dana Thomas, European sustainability editor for British Vogue and host of The Green Dream podcast, draws a distinction between companies that do this outside of their supply chains - by offsetting with carbon credits or cleaning up rivers polluted - and those building better systems to actually reduce emissions within their supply chains.

"Companies are hiding behind carbon neutrality [by] improving how their numbers look on paper and in annual reports through compensation," she says. "Compensation doesn't mean you're neutral or negative. You have to physically reduce your impacts. Don't keep polluting, then clean up something else, somewhere else." "model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement" class="dcr-173mewl">

In fashion, 'circularity' should refer to items made from repurposed materials that can themselves be reused, repaired and recycled over and over again - in a circle. There are several ways the term is misused. Most often, "circular" is used to describe products whose components are upcycled or recycled (converted from one material to another that is generally less useful or structurally sound This alone is not accurate, says Harriet Vocking, Managing Director of Eco-Age.To be truly circular, there must be a viable end-of-life solution in place - such as take-back programs to ensure that the product will be recycled again.

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"Another hugely important part of circularity is a long lifespan that allows for repair and reuse of products that are durable, built to last, and unfazed by trends," says- She. So if a product is made from recycled materials that compromise quality, it's not circular.

Tara St James, Senior Director of Sustainability at Moose Knuckles , suggests thinking of circularity as a business model or system, rather than a product. "There must be mechanisms in place to...