EU proposes tighter greenwashing restrictions with new advertising laws in Green Deal update

01 Apr 2022 --- The European Commission (EC) is proposing a new set of rules for the European Green Deal that would tighten restrictions on greenwashing and expand consumer rights. The amendments would help prevent misleading advertising and ensure packaging accurately conveys the durability and reparability of a product.

These proposals come as UN Member States negotiate a binding treaty on plastics pollution, which could see plastic producing companies worldwide made accountable for environmental and human health damage caused by their products. 

“We are supporting consumers who increasingly want to choose products that last longer and can be repaired. We must ensure that their commitment is not hampered by misleading information. With this proposal, we are giving them strong new tools to make informed choices and increase [environmental] sustainability of the products and our economy,” remarks the EC’s vice president for values and transparency, Věra Jourová.

Labeling laws ahead 
Under the Consumer Rights Directive, the new rules would oblige traders to provide consumers with information on products’ durability and reparability. The recommendations state that:

• Consumers must be informed about the guaranteed durability of products. If the producer of a good offers a commercial guarantee of durability of more than two years, the seller must provide this information to the consumer. The seller must inform consumers for energy-using goods when the producer provides no information on a commercial durability guarantee.
• The seller must also provide relevant information on repairs, such as the repairability score (where applicable) or other relevant repair information made available by the producer, such as spare parts or a repair manual. 
• Producers and sellers will decide on the most appropriate way to provide this information to the consumer, whether on the packaging or in the product description on the website. In any case, it must be provided before the purchase and in a clear and understandable manner.

Greenwashing ban 
The EC also proposes several amendments to the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD). First, the list of product characteristics about which a trader cannot mislead consumers is expanded to cover the environmental or social impact and the durability and reparability.

Second, it adds new practices considered misleading after a case-by-case assessment, such as making an environmental claim related to future environmental performance without clear, objective and verifiable commitments and targets and without an independent monitoring system. Product producers could face stricter advertising rules in the EU if the amendments are passed.

Finally, it amends the UCPD by adding new practices to the existing list of prohibited unfair commercial practices, the so-called “black list.” The new practices will include, among others:

• Not informing about features introduced to limit durability. 
• Making generic, vague environmental claims where the environmental performance of the product or trader cannot be demonstrated. Examples include “environmentally friendly,” “eco,” or “green.” 
• Making an environmental claim about the entire product when it actually concerns only a certain aspect of the product. 
• Displaying a voluntary sustainability label that was not based on a third-party verification scheme or established by public authorities. 
• Not informing that a product has limited functionality when using consumables, spare parts or accessories not provided by the original producer.

These amendments aim to ensure legal certainty for traders and facilitate enforcement of cases related to greenwashing and early obsolescence of products. 

Furthermore, by ensuring that environmental claims are fair, consumers will be able to choose products that are genuinely better for the environment than their competitors. This advantage will encourage competition toward more environmentally sustainable products, thus reducing the negative impact on the environment, says the EC. 

Labeling litigation
The EC’s proposals would strengthen the stance of environmental law firms, which have been filing a growing number of cases against plastics producers over the past year. Advertising standards authorities are banning an increasing number of marketing campaigns for greenwashing.

This, combined with the announcement of a new global UN Plastic Pollution treaty, has encouraged many firms to take major companies to court over their practices and advertising claims. 

In the UK alone, the number of adverts banned by the Advertising Standards Authority for some form of “greenwashing” has trebled in a year, reaching 16 cases over the past 12 months. This includes a ruling against Coca-Cola-owned smoothie brand Innocent and Swedish oat milk manufacturer Oatly. 

Recently, we spoke to several organizations with active legal cases against plastic producers. Earth Island Institute currently has three plastic-related lawsuits but none have yet reached the merits stage. As such, it is still too early to predict the impacts of this treaty on its lawsuits, the environmental organization says.

By Louis Gore-Langton