NEWS
Australian court rules against degradable additive firm
An Australian company that supplies chemicals used to manufacture plastic products has been found guilty of falsely claiming a chemical additive was biodegradable.
The Federal Court of Australia declared Adelaide-based Goody Environment Pty. Ltd., which supplied an additive used to manufacture Goody-brand high density polyethylene bags, engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct and made false representations about the chemical’s biodegradability.
Last October the same court found Adelaide-based Nupak Australia Pty. Ltd., which manufactured and distributed the Goody-branded HDPE bags, guilty of misleading and deceptive conduct.
Australia’s competition watchdog, the Canberra-based Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (A.C.C.C.), first brought claims against Goody and Nupak in July.
The court ordered Goody to:
• Publish corrective notices on its website and in Adelaide’s daily newspaper,
• Implement a trade practices compliance and education program, and
• Contribute US$65,220 to ACCC’s court costs.
When Nupak faced court last year, it received similar penalties, but was required to pay only US$9,800 towards ACCC’s costs.
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