As the demand for sustainability increases, so does the interest in passing off goods with fake green credentials.

Last year, Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) revealed it had uncovered falsified organic cotton certificates in India. And within the auto industry, a U.S. federal court slapped Volkswagen with $2.8 billion criminal fines in 2017 for cheating on emissions tests.

Even if they aren’t falsifying results or certifications, companies can face accusations of greenwashing if they don’t deliver sufficient data to support their sustainability claims. In 2019, the Norwegian Consumer Authority criticized H&M’s Conscious Collection, saying the fast-fashion retailer didn’t provide enough specific information about the line’s material content and environmental benefits.

“Organizations are conscious of the consumer appetite for green solutions,” said MeiLin Wan, vice president, textile sales at Applied DNA Sciences. “The incentive and pressures to make sustainable material claims are real. The question is what information, if any, is provided by organizations to substantiate their claims.”