The issue of greenwashing has persisted ever since the term „sustainability“ is ubiquitously used in industries. Products that are labelled as „eco-friendly“ or „climate neutral“ give customers a better conscience when buying or buying a larger quantity of products than products without these claims and labels, although there is no proof of the claimed sustainability. Consumers are not sufficiently informed about the background of these eco-friendliness assertions because up to this date, product manufacturers could use certain sustainability terms without evidence or certificates. To counterpart this problem, the EU Parliament has approved a new law on January 17th 2024 banning such misleading product sustainability claims on articles sold in the EU.
The agreement follows the release in March 2022 by the EU Commission of a set of proposals to amend the EU’s existing rules aimed at protecting consumers from vague and obscure commercial practices such as untruthful or aggressive advertising and giving consumers deceptive sustainability information. This will have an impact on businesses of all manner of sizes and sectors. Shockingly, more than half of green contentions by companies in the EU were loose or misleading and 40% were completely unsubstantiated, as a recent study by the Commission found. This highlights the urgency of the matter, exposing how companies can effortlessly tout their products as environmentally friendly.
Stricter and clearer requirements for Ecolabels
Key aspects of the new law include provisions that make product labels clearer by prohibiting the use of generic, unverifiable environmental claims and only allowing those based on official certification schemes or established by public authorities. Each member state will have to select which “national competent authority” that it wishes to appoint to monitor the requirements of the Ecolabel. These can be existing regulatory or supervisory authorities, or countries can establish new organisations. Moreover, labels based on offsetting schemes that indicate a products “climate-neutrality”, reduced or positive impact on the environment will be banned by the law. As Ursula Pachl, the deputy director of EU consumer advocate body BEUC explains: “there is no such thing as ‘carbon-neutral’ or ‘CO2-neutral’ cheese, plastic bottles, flights or bank accounts. Carbon-neutral claims are greenwashing, plain and simple.”
Durability in focus
Another important objective of the new law are claims about product durability. For example, guarantee information must be more visible on products, a harmonised label to give more prominence to goods with an extended guarantee period is compulsory and unfounded durability claims, requests for premature replacement of consumables or the presentation of goods as repairable when this is not the case are prohibited. MEPs are confident that this directive will move us away from throwaway culture, as reliable labelling will allow people to choose products that are more durable and repairable.
The directive now also needs to receive final approval from the Council, after which it will be published in the Official Journal and member states will have two years to transpose it into national law.
DFGE works on a scientific basis and in accordance with international standards and norms. We also work with recognised partners, which enables us to counteract green claims. For more information, visit www.dfge.de or contact us via Mail or phone +49 8192 99 7 33-20.
Sources
https://www.edie.net/eu-parliament-signs-off-on-anti-greenwashing-legislation/
