The European Commission recently drafted an initiative that will require European manufacturers and importers to substantiate environmental claims made about their products. The goal of this directive is to make these claims reliable, comparable, and verifiable all across the EU, and reduce the level of “greenwashing” that can occur.
Greenwashing transpires when an organization gives off the false impression of their total environmental impact. Since many environmental claims are voluntary for manufacturers and used for marketing purposes, it’s crucial that these things are quantifiable and standardized to avoid uncorroborated environmental information about products from entering the market. Today, there are 230 sustainability labels and 100 green energy labels in the EU, all of which offer remarkably different levels of transparency.
By ensuring these environmental labels and claims are verifiable and credible, it will boost consumer confidence and allow them to make better informed decisions when purchasing items from the EU market. It will also incentivize organizations to increase their sustainability efforts for their products and production processes.
Although this directive is still in its draft stages and requires more clarification on how it will directly affect EU manufacturers, Nemko is following this legislation process closely in order to help organizations get prepared for their next steps.
As a significant international player in the world of testing solutions, Nemko offers an array of comprehensive testing and certification services, meeting the regulatory requirements for a wide range of product categories found across the globe. Work with Nemko to get prepared for this and any additional changes that may affect your production or importing process down the line.