The Italian competition gendarme inflicted a fine of one million euros on the company responsible for Shein websites in Europe for a million euros for disseminating misleading information on the environmental efforts of the electronic commerce.
• Read also: Price increases to be expected: TEMU and Shein hit hard by a decision by Donald Trump
The AGCM accuses the Chinese colossus of ephemeral fashion of having “adopted a misleading communication strategy concerning the characteristics and the environmental impact of its clothing products”.
Shein is also accused of having disseminated “deceived and/or false environmental allegations … as part of the promotion and sale of clothing of the Shein brand”.
These messages were “in some cases, vague, generic and/or excessively emphatic, and in others, deceptions or omissive”.
In particular, the claims concerning the recyclability of the products “have proven to be false or at the very least lending confusion,” said the competition gendarme.
Consumers could easily have to believe that Shein products were made exclusively from sustainable and fully recyclable materials, “an affirmation which, taking into account the fibers used and current recycling systems, does not reflect reality”.
Shein said that he had “fully cooperated” with the AGCM and “taken immediate measures” to respond to concerns, according to a press release reached to AFP, saying that now all the environmental allegations on the website were “clear, specific and in accordance with regulations”.
Ecologists have been warning for a long time against damage caused by the tendency to waste the ephemeral fashion sector, which produces cheap clothes that are quickly thrown away.
Ephemeral fashion consumes enormous quantities of water, produces dangerous chemicals and clogs the landfills from poor countries of textile waste, while generating greenhouse gases during production, transport and elimination.