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Eco-friendly and sustainability claims made by ASOS, Boohoo and George at Asda are to be investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The watchdog is to look into what each company says about their fashion products including clothing, footwear and accessories.

The move comes as part of its ongoing investigation into potential greenwashing and follows concerns around the way the firms’ products are being marketed to customers as eco-friendly.

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In January this year, the CMA turned its eye to the fashion sector and its initial review identified concerns around potentially misleading green claims.

These included a number of companies creating the impression that their products were 'sustainable' or better for the environment – for example by making broad claims about the use of recycled materials in new clothing – with little to no information about the basis for those claims or exactly which products they related to.

The CMA has now launched investigations into ASOS, Boohoo and George to get to the bottom of its concerns. Among other things, these include whether:

• the statements and language used by the businesses are too broad and vague, and may create the impression that clothing collections – such as the 'Responsible edit' from ASOS, Boohoo's current 'Ready for the Future' range, and 'George for Good' – are more environmentally sustainable than they actually are
• the criteria used by some of these businesses to decide which products to include in these collections may be lower than customers might reasonably expect from their descriptions and overall presentation – for example, some products may contain as little as 20% recycled fabric
• some items have been included in these collections when they do not meet the criteria
• there is a lack of information provided to customers about products included in any of the companies' eco ranges, such as missing information about what the fabric is made from
• any statements made by the companies about fabric accreditation schemes and standards are potentially misleading, such as a lack of clarity as to whether the accreditation applies to particular products or to the firm’s wider practices

The CMA has written to the three firms outlining its concerns and will use its information gathering powers to obtain evidence to progress its investigation.