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, 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.
* 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 toward ACCC's costs.
