Walmart, Kohl’s To Pay $5.5M Over False Eco-Friendly Bamboo Sheets Claims

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Walmart, Kohl’s FTC Eco-Friendly Settlement Overview:

• Who: Walmart and Kohl’s have agreed to pay a $5.5 million settlement to end government allegations over their “eco-friendly” rayon-based products.
• Why: The Federal Trade Commission alleged the companies marketed the products as being made with eco-friendly bamboo when the process actually requires toxic chemicals to turn wood pulp into rayon.
• Where: The products were sold nationwide.

Walmart and Kohl’s have agreed to pay $5.5 million to end federal allegations that they marketed their rayon-based homewares like sheets and blankets as “eco-friendly” when in fact the bamboo used to make the products was treated with toxic chemicals to be turned to rayon.

In two twin orders for penalties filed in a D.C. federal court Apr. 8, Walmart is ordered to pay $3 million and Kohl’s must pay $2.5 million. 

Both Walmart and Kohl’s were accused of marketing towels, sheets, blankets and dozens of other rayon-based products that claimed to be made from either 100% bamboo or a mixture of bamboo and cotton using “eco-friendly” processes. 

However, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said dozens of the products were actually made of rayon derived from bamboo using a chemical process.

Despite this, the companies marketed the products as having production methods “free of harmful chemicals, using clean, non-toxic materials.”

The process for turning plant cellulose or wood pulp into rayon requires the use of toxic chemicals and produces emissions of hazardous pollutants, the government said in the penalty orders.

Walmart, Kohl’s Injunctions Prevent Companies From Future Misleading Claims

Also included in the orders were injunctions preventing Walmart and Kohl’s from continuing to market the rayon-based products as being made of bamboo.

The companies also will not claim bamboo-based products are free of harmful chemicals or have any environmental benefits because the products are derived from bamboo.

Meanwhile, the companies will also be required to improve their recordkeeping and will undergo compliance monitoring.

“False environmental claims harm both consumers and honest businesses, and companies that greenwash can expect to pay a price,” FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Samuel Levine said. “Kohl’s and Walmart are paying millions of dollars under the FTC’s Penalty Offense Authority for mislabeling their rayon products as bamboo.” 

The news comes as Walmart is accused of having tricked “unsuspecting” warehouse companies into housing thousands of pallets of an unsellable disinfectant product during the COVID-19 pandemic in a new lawsuit seeking nearly $30 million.

The federal government is represented by Rachael L. Doud of the DOJ’s Consumer Protection Branch.

The FTC is represented in-house by Miriam Lederer.

What do you think of Walmart and Kohl’s claims about eco-friendly bamboo? Let us know in the comments! 

The Walmart and Kohl’s Bamboo Lawsuits are U.S.A. v. Walmart Inc., Case No. 1:22-cv-00965, and U.S.A. v. Kohl’s Inc., Case No. 1:22-cv-00964, both in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

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