The UK’s advertising regulator has banned adverts by Lavazza and Dualit after ruling that their claims about “compostable” coffee pods were misleading to consumers.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) found that both companies had given the false impression that their coffee products could be composted at home, when in fact they require specialist industrial composting facilities to break down.
Lavazza described its pods as “eco caps” and “compostable”, while Dualit promoted its coffee bags as “compostable” in paid-for search ads. In both cases, the ASA ruled that the wording misled consumers into believing the products were suitable for domestic compost bins.
Defending its ads, Lavazza argued that consumers would understand “compostable” to mean the material itself was compostable, not necessarily in a home setting. Dualit said its bags were made from polylactic acid — a plant-based material certified as industrially compostable — and should not be assumed to break down in a garden compost heap.
However, the ASA rejected these arguments, stating: “We believed that people would understand from the claim ‘compostable’, in the context of a consumer product for use in the home, that these products could be composted at home. As this wasn’t the case, we found that the ads were misleading and so we’ve banned them.”
The ruling highlights the significant difference between home and industrial composting. While home composting involves slower, less consistent decomposition in a garden bin, industrial facilities use controlled temperatures and humidity to break down a wider range of materials far more rapidly.
The ASA said the case was an important reminder for brands to be transparent about the environmental claims they make, especially as more consumers base purchasing decisions on sustainability credentials.
“We know that when it comes to making purchasing decisions, the public are keen to make choices with the environment in mind,” the ASA added. “It’s important that brands are clear about how easy it is to dispose of products in an environmentally friendly way, so people aren’t misled.”
Lavazza and Dualit have been contacted for comment.
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Coffee pod ads banned by UK watchdog over misleading composting claims