TDUK has now written a Green Claims Policy to set out the standards it has committed to in its marketing and communications.

Timber Development UK has signed up to The Anti-Greenwash Charter as the next step in its sustainability journey.

The Charter is sponsored by the Alliance for Sustainable Building Products, and requires organisations to make a public declaration to uphold good standards of marketing practice, adopt a Green Claims Policy and, by doing so, adhere to the Government’s Green Claims Code and Code for Construction Product Information.

Having signed up to the Charter, TDUK has written a Green Claims Policy to set out the standards it has committed to in its marketing and communications. The organisation also requires all its members to abide by these standards, which are:

  • Transparency: We commit to clear communication of what sustainability benefit our product or service offers and not to conceal or omit information.
  • Accountability: We substantiate our sustainability claims with accurate, and regularly evaluated empirical evidence. We commit to sharing facts, figures and statements that can be checked.
  • Fairness: We commit to using fair, clear and unambiguous language when providing comparisons with other products or organisations.
  • Honesty: We ensure we make specific statements about our organisation’s sustainability efforts and that our actions match those promises.

The policy sets out practices that TDUK will follow to ensure all its communications comply with the Anti-Greenwash Charter and also includes key definitions of green terms commonly used to describe timber and wood-based products and services to help its members do the same.

Charlie Law, Sustainability Director of Timber Development UK, said: “The importance of sustainability is becoming clearer to industries across the country, but we have all seen examples of misleading or false information within the built environment industry.

"We are determined to ensure our members cannot be accused of ‘greenwashing’ and to help to champion responsible marketing practices across the timber supply chain, which is why we’ve decided to sign The Anti-Greenwash Charter, and develop our policy and associated guidance to help our members, and others in the industry make the correct claims.”

Full details of TDUK’s Green Claims Policy can be found online at www.timberdevelopment.uk/anti-greenwash-charter