New EU Anti-Greenwashing Directive Explained

The EU parliament has just released a ground-breaking law to protect consumers from companies that are greenwashing.

No more fluffy words

The EU parliament has just released a ground-breaking law to protect consumers from companies that are greenwashing. Fashion brands, food manufacturers, airlines. Any business-to-consumer (B2C) activity falls under the directive scope. The Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (ECGT) is an integration of the Green Claims Directive. If you don’t abide by these rules, you won’t be able to sell your goods in Europe. And that can happen as soon as next year. But don’t worry. In this post, we’ll unpack the regulation requirements and how Stripe Blue can help you comply with them.

Unless you can back it up with facts, there are a series of terms which you can no longer use when advertising your products. Here are some greenwashing examples mentioned in the directive.

Unless you can back it up with facts, there are a series of terms which you can no longer use when advertising your products. Here are some greenwashing examples mentioned in the directive.

  • Gentle on the environment

  • Environmentally friendly

  • Energy-efficient

  • Nature’s friend

  • Carbon-friendly

  • Biodegradable

  • Eco-friendly

  • Recycled

  • Biobased

  • Green

Carbon Offsetting No Longer Counts As A Proof

The upcoming EU directive forbids you to tap into carbon offsetting for supporting your climate-friendly claims. This way, for instance, people will be more aware that planting a few trees won’t make their Ryanair flight climate neutral, CO2 neutral certified, carbon positive,

climate net zero, climate compensated, or the likes. On the other hand, you can still compensate for your company’s carbon emissions by investing in effective carbon offset schemes.


How Long Does It Really Last?

The regulation also covers misleading and/or vague durability statements when it comes to  electronic goods, electricals, and furniture. For instance, you can’t just allegedly say that a washing machine will run for a random number of cycles. You’ve got to prove it. Also, you should not label goods as repairable when they’re actually not or encourage consumers to replace them before it’s actually needed.

How we can help?

So, how can you gather the reliable evidence the EU is asking for? We’ve got the solution you’re after. It’s called life cycle assessment (LCA). Thanks to this tool, you can calculate your product carbon footprint and generate an environmental product declaration (EPD). As a bonus, you’ll meet the eco-design directive requirements as well. If you don’t have a clue about any of that, keep calm and reach out to one of our consultants!