Reckitt Australia

Named and shamed in the 2010 CHOICE Shonky Awards. Nurofen painkillers actually contain identical ingredients from product to product despite marketing painkillers for varying pains. The active ingredient in these painkillers spreads through your whole body attacking whatever pain it comes across, wherever it is. The shonkiest aspect of this type of marketing is that the fast-acting painkillers labeled for specific pain types are more expensive.
Source: Choice (2010)

Named and shamed in the 2012 CHOICE Shonky Awards. Exit Mould doesn't kill mould! This alleged mould killer can't penetrate porous surfaces, like grout, which is where mould tends to grow. While it may look nice and white post-spray, courtesy of the bleach removing the colour, the root structure remains entrenched in the grout, ready to sprout again. In fact, the bleach can actually erode and corrode grout and tiles, making them more porous - and more receptive to mould.
Source: Choice (2012)

Named and shamed in the 2016 CHOICE Shonky Awards for its Vanish Preen Power Powder Clean and Fresh Large Area Carpet Cleaner, which costs $14.70 and failed to outperform water in Choice tests, despite claiming to be "revolutionary," with five times more dirt removal and a "fast-drying action".
Source: Choice (2016)

In 2013, 2012 and 2011 the Therapeutic Goods Administration's Complaints Resolution Panel upheld complaints about ads by this company on the grounds that they breached advertising codes. The Panel requested this company withdraw the ads and not to use representations in the ads again.
Source: TGA Complaints Register (2013)

This company is a signatory to the Manufacturers and Importers Agreement 1992 (MAIF), a voluntary self-regulatory code of conduct between the manufacturers and importers of infant formula in Australia. The MAIF Agreement aims to contribute to the provision of safe and adequate nutrition for infants, by the protection and promotion of breastfeeding and by ensuring the proper use of breast milk substitutes, when they are necessary, on the basis of adequate information through appropriate marketing and distribution.
Source: Australian Govt Dept of Health (2019)

Follow the link to see this company's Product Ingredients Information Site, where the company discloses the ingredients of its household products available in Australia.
Source: company website (2015)

This company uses plastic microbeads in some of its personal care products. These particles are not retained by wastewater treatment so end up in the ocean where they contribute to ocean plastic pollution, and are hazardous to sea life. While the effects of microplastics on human health are not completely understood, there are concerns about plastic additives, such as phthalates, which are known endocrine disruptors which are shown to have harmful effects on life.
Source: Beat the Microbead (2021)

EWG's Guide to Healthy Cleaning provides safety ratings for household cleaning products, with over 2,500 products rated from A (lowest concern) to F (highest concern). This company's score range is A to F, with over 84% of products scoring a D or F.
Source: Environmental Working Group (2020)

This company has been criticised by ActionAid for having subsidiaries in tax havens. One of the main reasons companies have subsidiaries in tax havens is to dodge their taxes. Developing countries lose more to tax dodging than they receive in aid each year.
Source: ActionAid (2011)

In Apr 2011, Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc was given a final fine of 10.2 million pounds (US$16.6 million) by a U.K. regulator for halting supplies of a heartburn medicine to the National Health Service to block sales of a generic version. [Listed under Information due to age of court finding]
Source: news article (2011)

In Dec 2014 this company and 12 other consumer goods firms were fined a total of 951m euros by the French competition watchdog for price fixing in supermarkets. The regulator said the companies colluded on price increases between 2003 and 2006. This company was fined 121m euros.
Source: news article (2014)

As listed on the We Mean Business website, this company has committed to the following climate action initiatives: commit to 100% renewable power, adopt a science-based emissions reduction target.
Source: We Mean Business (2021)

In 2022 after more than 170 nations backed a historic UN resolution to end plastic pollution, global businesses across the plastics value chain, financial institutions, and NGOs came together to announce a common vision for an effective and ambitious Global Treaty to End Plastic Pollution. The vision will form the basis for future policy engagements with governments through a newly launched Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty which will be convened by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and WWF. This company has endorsed the vision statement of the treaty.
Source: Global Plastics Treaty (2022)

In 2014 this company announced it would expand its ingredients disclosure program to include the subset of fragrance ingredients identified as recognized allergens by the European Union's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety. This company was already ahead of the pack on ingredients disclosure with its website www.rbnainfo.com
Source: Environmental Defense Fund (2014)

This company received a score of 83.9/100 in the Newsweek Green Rankings 2016, which ranks the world's largest publicly traded companies on eight indicators covering energy, greenhouse gases, water, waste, fines and penalties, linking executive pay to sustainability targets, board-level committee oversight of environmental issues and third-party audits. Ranking methodology by Corporate Knights and HIP Investor.
Source: Newsweek (2016)

This company is a signatory to the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, whose goal is to eliminate plastic pollution at its source.
Source: New Plastics Economy (2022)

This company is a member of the Green Chemistry and Commerce Council (GC3), a business-to-business forum that advances the application of green chemistry and design for environment across supply chains. It provides an open forum for cross-sectoral collaboration to share information and experiences about the challenges to and opportunities for safer chemicals and products.
Source: GC3 (2019)

This company is a member of How2Recycle. The How2Recycle Label is a voluntary, standardized labeling system that clearly communicates recycling instructions to the public. It involves a coalition of forward thinking brands who want their packaging to be recycled and are empowering consumers through smart packaging labels. Companies must be a member of the program to use the How2Recycle Label.
Source: How2Recycle (2020)

This company is a member of the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform, the main food industry initiative supporting the development of sustainable agriculture worldwide. Created by Nestle, Unilever and Danone in 2002, the SAI Platform is a non-profit organization to facilitate sharing, at precompetitive level, of knowledge and initiatives to support the development and implementation of sustainable agriculture practices involving the different stakeholders of the food chain.
Source: SAI Platform (2019)

This company is a signatory to the US Plastics Pact, a collaborative effort organized by The Recycling Partnership and the World Wildlife Fund, launched as part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's global Plastics Pact network to unify diverse public-private stakeholders across the plastics value chain to rethink the way we design, use, and reuse plastics, to create a path forward to realize a circular economy for plastic in the United States. In line with the Ellen McArthur Foundation's vision of a circular economy for plastics, which unites more than 850+ organizations, the US Plastics Pact brings together companies, government entities, NGOs, researchers, and other stakeholders to work collectively toward scalable solutions tailored to the unique needs and challenges within the U.S. landscape, through vital knowledge sharing and coordinated action.
Source: US Plastics Pact (2020)

This company is a member of the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (Sedex), a not-for-profit, membership organisation that leads work with buyers and suppliers to deliver improvements in responsible and ethical business practices in global supply chains. Tens of thousands of companies use Sedex to manage their performance around labour rights, health & safety, the environment and business ethics.
Source: Sedex (2018)

Forest 500 identifies the 350 companies and 150 financial institutions with the greatest exposure to tropical deforestation risk, and annually assesses them on the strength and implementation of their deforestation and human rights commitments. This company received a score of 54%.
Source: Forest 500 (2022)

The WWF Palm Oil Buyers Scorecard 2021 assesses 227 companies on the actions companies have taken to ensure their own palm oil supply chain is sustainable and free of deforestation, natural ecosystem conversion, and human rights abuse. This company is rated 'middle of the pack' with a score of 11.45 out of a possible total of 24.
Source: WWF Palm Oil Buyers Scorecard (2021)

In 2016 Greenpeace East Asia ranked the world's 30 biggest personal care companies on their commitment to eliminating microbeads from their personal care products. The scorecard was based on four main criteria: commitment & transparency, definition, deadline and global application. This company was ranked as 'getting there'. Microbeads are not retained by wastewater treatment and end up in the ocean where they are a threat to the marine environment.
Source: Greenpeace (2016)

California, the UK and Australia have all enacted legislation requiring companies operating within their borders to disclose their efforts to eradicate modern slavery from their operations and supply chains. Follow the link to see this company's disclosure statement.
Source: company website (2017)