An organization promoting the purchase of eco-friendly products has ousted 11 paper manufacturers from the body after they lied about the ratio of used paper in their recycled products, officials said.

As of Thursday, the Green Purchasing Network (GPN) had expelled 11 member companies. It was the first time that the organization had expelled members since its establishment in 1996.

The 11 member companies were among the 17 paper manufacturers that falsified information on the ratio of used paper in their products such as photocopying paper.

The GPN said they stripped the 11 companies of their membership because they carried false information on their products on the network's Web site on environment-related information.

"We discussed our guidelines on the purchase of ecologically friendly products with our member companies since we drew them up, but our confidence was betrayed. We hope things like this will never happen again," said Hideki Nakahara, chairman of the GPN.