The Italian competition guard dog said Monday that he had fined the company responsible for Shein’s websites in Europe one million euros (1.15 million dollars) for false and confusing statements on the efforts of the e-commerce giant to be “green”.The AGCM guard dog accuses the colossal of the fast phase founded in China of “adopting a misleading communication strategy regarding the characteristics and environmental impact of its clothing products”.
The fine was imposed on Infinite Styles Services Co. Ltd, the company responsible for the management of Shein product trading websites in Europe, said the authority in a note.
The AGCM accused him of “misleading and/or deceptive environmental messages and demands … in the promotion and sale of Shein brand clothing products”.These were “in some cases, vague, generic and/or excessively emphatic, and in others, misleading or omissive”.
In particular, the statements on the recyclability of the products “were false or at least confused,” he said.
Consumers could be easily led to believe that Shein products were made exclusively by sustainable and fully recyclable materials “, a declaration that, given the fibers used and the current recycling systems, do not reflect reality”.
The AGCM also questioned the claims of the dealer who would reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of 25 percent by 2030 and would have reached zero emissions by 2050.
These “vague” commitments of a company that have seen a phenomenal growth in recent years have been “contradicted by an effective increase in Shein’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 and 2024,” he said.
In a statement to AFP, Shein said he had “fully cooperated” with the investigations of the guard dog and “he undertaken immediate actions” to face concerns, stating that all environmental statements on the website were now “clear, specific and conforming to the regulations”.
The environmentalists have long warned the damage caused by the expensive trend of the low -cost clothing fashion sector which is quickly thrown away.
Fast fashion uses enormous quantities of water, produces dangerous and obstructed chemicals in landfills in poor countries with textile waste, also generating greenhouse gases in production, transport and disposal.
