Recycling Cartel
On 1 April 2025 the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) fined ten mainstream manufacturers and two trade bodies £77.7 million for agreeing to and running a “recycling cartel” over a 15 year period that was designed to keep quiet about the percentage of each model that was recyclable and to avoid paying proper end-of-life disposal fees.
Investigations by European and UK competition authorities found that car makers had :-
- agreed not to advertise if their cars went above the minimum recycling requirement of 85 per cent; and
- worked together to prevent the dissemination of the percentage of material within their vehicles that that could actually be recycled, recovered or reused.
It was the decision of the competition authorities that as this agreement led to no competition between the manufacturers with regards the environmental credentials concerned, that this was a cartel and that the agreements were illegal because customers could not compare the green credentials of the cars they were buying, thereby distorting consumer conduct.
A full list of the CMA’s findings and the non-confidential version of the infringement decision can be found at :-
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68260527c3d769b1824e642f/Final_decision_.pdf
In Conclusion
The decision shows that environmental transparency can, and will, constitute a competition issue, not merely a matter of marketing puff. While this decision was limited to manufacturers, it is likely to set a precedent and should serve as a cautionary tale for everyone in the industry.
If a dealer repeats an unverified environmental claim—for example that a vehicle is “95 per cent recyclable”—and that figure later proves inaccurate, a customer may have redress against the dealer under various consumer protection laws.
In the era of green-washing litigation, small disciplines can save large legal fees. The best practical defence is robust paperwork. Insist on written confirmation of any environmental statistic from the manufacturer and link that information with the relevant sales files. Then make sure sales staff stick to the verified wording. Where evidence is unavailable, tone down or omit any green claim.
