Context: The Central Pollution Control Board’s 2025 reclassification of waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration from a highly polluting red category to a blue category is criticized as bluewashing, falsely portraying it as an essential environmental service.

Meaning of the context: Until recently, the waste-to-energy incineration industries were classified by the CPCB as a ‘red category’, a highly polluting industry.

Learn More:

• Bluewashing involves organizations making misleading claims about their adherence to social, economic, or ethical standards—such as human rights, labor conditions, or community welfare—to gain public trust, boost brand image, or deflect criticism, without meaningful action.
• It parallels greenwashing (misleading environmental claims) but focuses on social and economic responsibility rather than ecological concerns.

Key Mechanisms

• Tactics:
  • Vague Claims: Broad statements like “committed to fairness” without measurable outcomes.
  • Selective Disclosure: Highlighting minor initiatives (e.g., a single ethical product) to obscure broader issues (e.g., sweatshops).
• Symbolic Affiliations: Joining voluntary initiatives (e.g., UNGC) for branding without compliance.
• Misleading Certifications: Using unverified labels to suggest ethical practices.
• Recent Example – PepsiCo: Claimed “positive water balance” but criticized by India Resource Center (2022) for incomplete water use accounting in water-stressed Indian regions (e.g., Tamil Nadu).

Source : Down To Earth