Italy’s competition authority has fined fast fashion retailer Shein €1 million for what it described as misleading and omissive environmental claims on its website and in its marketing.

The sanction, announced on Monday, follows a “greenwashing” investigation by the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) that began in September last year.

The fine was imposed on Infinite Styles Services Co. Limited, a Dublin-based company that operates Shein’s European website. The regulator stated that Shein’s environmental sustainability and social responsibility messages were at times “vague, generic, and/or overly emphatic, and in other cases omitted and misleading”.

AGCM found that Shein’s claims about circular system design and the recyclability of its products were “false or at the very least confusing”. The authority also criticised the way Shein promoted its ‘evoluSHEIN by design’ collection, which was presented as using more sustainable materials and responsible manufacturing. According to AGCM, consumers could be led to believe that the collection was made with eco-friendly materials and was fully recyclable, “a fact that, considering the fibres used and currently existing recycling systems, is untrue”

The regulator further noted that Shein’s commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent by 2030 and to reach net zero by 2050 were “vague and generic”, and highlighted that these pledges were contradicted by an actual increase in the company’s emissions in 2023 and 2024.

This is the second time in just over a month that Shein has been penalised by a European regulator. In July, French authorities fined the company 40 million euros over fake discounts and misleading environmental claims.

AGCM said its overall assessment was influenced by an “increased duty of care” placed on Shein, “because it operates in a highly polluting sector and with highly polluting methods” such as fast and super-fast fashion.

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