Do minimum quality standards bite in polluting industries?

► We study the adoption of an MQS in a duopoly with polluting production. ► We examine a vertically differentiated market under price and quantity competition. ► We study the alternative frameworks with quality-dependent fixed or variable costs. ► With a high weight of the pollution, the MQS does not bite in price competition ► Under the same conditions, it is binding in the presence of quantity competition.