Shein Greenwashing Scandal is no longer just a buzzword. Within a single month, the fast fashion giant has been fined more than €41 million for misleading environmental claims. Regulatory bodies in Italy and France found that Shein exaggerated or misrepresented its sustainability practices to consumers.
Italy’s competition authority, AGCM, issued a €1 million fine this week after reviewing the brand’s marketing. The conclusion was blunt. Shein’s claims about environmental responsibility were either weak, unclear, or not backed by any proof. In some cases, the messaging was completely missing. When it was present, it often painted a picture that simply wasn’t true.
AGCM said that terms like “sustainable” and “recyclable” were used carelessly. The watchdog found that Shein often made promises about product sustainability that had no technical basis. Some of the most questionable examples came from its own in-house labeling scheme known as evoluSHEIN. The program was designed to showcase items that were supposedly eco-conscious. But several of these labeled products contained materials that could not be recycled using standard methods.
The problem doesn’t stop in Italy.
In July, France fined Shein €40 million for what its regulators called misleading discounts and false sustainability claims. Officials found that the company often listed inflated original prices to make their discounts seem more attractive. On top of that, many environmental claims were either misleading or totally unsupported.
French investigators noted that Shein labeled many garments as recyclable or eco-friendly without giving clear details or sourcing evidence. Some of the statements were found to be factually incorrect. Others created a false sense of environmental responsibility that misled buyers into thinking they were making better choices.
The two investigations reached a similar conclusion. Shein’s marketing played into a narrative of sustainability that was not reflected in the actual lifecycle of its products. Fast fashion, by nature, is high-volume and low-cost. That model creates a large environmental footprint. Without transparency about materials, production, and waste, any green claims can easily cross into greenwashing.
So far, Shein has not responded publicly to the Italian fine. In earlier statements related to the French ruling, the company denied any intention to mislead and promised to make improvements.
However, many critics argue that this is part of a bigger pattern. Environmental groups and watchdog organizations have long warned about Shein’s ultra-fast production cycle and the waste it generates. These recent fines are likely just the beginning of wider scrutiny into how fashion brands talk about sustainability.
