Impact of Revised Green Guides on the Coatings Industry

Recorded: January 20, 2011
Media Format: Windows Media Video (WMV)

Course Description

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has released an updated draft version of its Green Guides that are used by the agency to enforce environmental marketing laws and unfair and deceptive product labels and advertising. Recent press statements attributed to FTC officials indicate that the guides could render many of the current “green product” and “green building” standards useless. They could also stymie the efforts of many retailers to establish some form of procurement system based, at least in part, on green marketing claims.

The guides will call for tighter standards for packaging claims such as “recyclable” or “biodegradable” and regulate how marketers can use terms such as “carbon neutral”.

ACA has been actively following the development of FTC’s Green Guides over the past four years, and participated in the workshops the commission hosted to understand how industries were approaching the matter of product labeling in general, and environmental marketing claims specifically.

Course Instructors

Steve Sides is a certified industrial hygienist and environmental scientist focusing on product stewardship initiatives, including product risk assessment and risk management, with special emphasis on hazard and precautionary labeling. Sides is currently ACA Vice President for Science, Technology and Environmental Policy. He is a graduate of the College of William and Mary, the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine's School of Environmental Health, and is currently completing his PhD in environmental policy at George Mason University.

Stacey-Ann Taylor is an environmental attorney specializing in chemical control law and regulation. Taylor is currently an attorney in the Government Affairs Division of ACA. In this capacity she serves as counsel to the Product Stewardship, Occupational Health & Safety, and Manufacturing Committees. She is also heavily involved in green building issues, and has recently become a Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP). Taylor is a graduate of Duke University School of Law and Emory University.

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