New regulations were passed. It will be a revolution in stores. “Companies will no longer be able to cheat people”

Almost unanimously, members of the European Parliament, which is intended to protect consumers against unfair practices of companies. It’s about the so-called eco fakery or greenwashing, i.e. unjustified claims that products are environmentally friendly in one way or another.

About the EU declaring war on eco scum. This is a problem that anyone could have encountered: on store shelves we see promises that a product is “environmentally friendly”, “natural”, “biodegradable”, “climate neutral” or “ecological”. We want to make choices that are good for nature and our own health, but how do we know what lies behind these slogans? Especially since – as Aleksandra Majda, an expert on ESG and greenwashing, tells us – such products often have little to do with ecology, apart from the packaging pretending to be natural.

Now the company will have to prove slogans and statements regarding the environmental values ​​of a product or service. And this is not the only change. The use of environmental markings and labels will be regulated. In the future, they will only be able to be used within the official certification system.

“It will change our everyday lives”

The regulations will also affect the increasingly popular slogans that something is “climate neutral”. Often, such claims were based not on the actual lack of CO2 emissions, but on compensating them (e.g. by planting trees). However, this is controversial to say the least. Now manufacturers will no longer be able to claim that a given product has no impact on the environment, or that its impact is limited or even positive, relying on emission compensation systems.

The directive will force changes not only in green slogans, but also in the approach to the durability of products and the possibility of their repair. Warranty information will be more visible, and manufacturers will not be able to claim that the product is more durable or repairable if in fact it is not (e.g. write that the washing machine will work for 5,000 washing cycles if under normal terms of use are false data).

Before adopting the rules, the EU showed that the scale of the problem was serious. A study commissioned by the European Commission verified that even every second environmental claim on the tested products may be misleading.

Aleksandra Majda also points out that “ecological” marketing is often a way to extract more money from consumers. Research shows that – at least in declarations – we are willing to pay more for products that we consider good for the environment. Even if, in reality, price rather than concern for the planet is more often the deciding factor, there are some consumers who pay more for “natural” and “organic” products.

MEP Biljana Borzan, rapporteur of the project, argued that “the regulations will change the everyday life of all Europeans.” “Companies will no longer be able to deceive people by saying that plastic bottles are good because the company planted trees somewhere – or claim that something is sustainable without explaining how,” she said.

More details instead of general slogans

What might the new law look like in practice? Aleksandra Majda, vice-president of the ESG Impact Network association, explains that now, instead of general (and often baseless) slogans, companies will have to talk about details. – There will have to be specific data and concrete evidence confirming a lower impact on the environment, lower greenhouse gas emissions or other advantages – he says. Instead of saying something is “climate-friendly”, a company will be able to say what a product’s carbon footprint is or how much it reduces its emissions.

However, will consumers understand messages providing, for example, precise data on the carbon footprint of a given product? It may be questioned whether the information that a given product causes “emissions of 1.3 kg of CO2 equivalent” is more clear than that it is “climate-friendly”. Majda believes that over time we will have to expand our knowledge and competences as consumers, and information about the carbon footprint will become part of our everyday vocabulary. – The times require us to learn and understand what CO2 emissions are and what sustainable development means – he says.

Companies themselves can also, for example, show data in context. For example, PKP train tickets contain information about the carbon footprint of our journey. And while the announcement itself that traveling from Warsaw to Katowice emits 8.9 kg of CO2 means little to almost everyone, the context helps to understand it: on the ticket we read that it is 4 times less emissions than in the case of traveling by car.

Majda also points out that regulations regarding product durability and repairability are part of the trend of creating a circular economy. – This is also one of the priorities of the EU environmental policy – he says.

We will have to wait for new regulations in Poland

The vote in the European Parliament formally concerned changes to two directives (on unfair practices and consumer rights). This is not the end of work on the regulations. They must be approved by the EU member states, and then each country – including Poland – will have to translate the EU regulations into national law. They will have 24 months to do so. This means that we may have to wait for the greenwashing ban to come into force in Poland. Much will depend on how quickly the government and parliament will deal with the matter.

However, as Aleksandra Majda says, Polish consumer protection regulations already allow reporting unfair practices also in the field of ecological claims. The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection – based on other European regulations – verifies claims regarding ecology made by large Polish companies (including those from the fashion, cosmetics and e-commerce industries).

– The Advertising Council also operates on the Polish market and has included rules regarding environmental advertising in its Code of Ethics. You can report suspected violations via the website, says Majda.