{"id":75905,"date":"2023-03-01T18:01:57","date_gmt":"2023-03-01T17:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/?p=75905"},"modified":"2023-06-04T16:56:49","modified_gmt":"2023-06-04T14:56:49","slug":"flustix-eu-regulation-seal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/flustix-eu-verordnung-siegel\/","title":{"rendered":"Eco-claims come under EU scrutiny"},"content":{"rendered":"
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After the new Packaging Ordinance comes the next tightening of the rules. This time it's about green claims: In future, advertising promises regarding the sustainability of a product will have to be substantiated. Although the Commission's proposals still have to go through the EU Parliament, the packaging industry should nevertheless adapt quickly.<\/strong><\/p>

The new catalogue of measures will regulate statements on the ecological properties of products. \u201eA proliferation has developed here in recent years<\/strong>\u201e, says Malte Biss, founder of the independent organisation flustix, which certifies plastics, plastic recyclates and plastic-free materials. Terms such as \u201eenvironmentally friendly\u201c, \u201eeco-friendly\u201c, \u201enature-friendly\u201c, \u201eecological\u201c and \u201eenvironmentally friendly\u201c now adorn the packaging of soaps, shampoos, cleaning products, paper towels, textiles and other products from almost all industries. The campaigns do not stop at food either.<\/strong><\/p>

A study commissioned by the EU Commission analysed 150 examples of such environmental claims. The results, which were published in the first quarter of 2022, were sobering: 53.3 per cent of the claims contained vague, misleading or unfounded information about the environmental characteristics of the products declared as sustainable<\/strong>.<\/p>

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Which statements may appear on the packaging in future?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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flustix founder Malte Biss openly describes the majority of common practices as greenwashing and categorises the Commission's proposals positively: \u201eIn future, companies will only be allowed to make environmental claims if they contain clear, objective and verifiable obligations and targets and have an independent monitoring system.\u201c Sustainability seals without recognised certification would be banned.<\/strong> Environmental claims that only refer to the packaging and not to the entire product will no longer be possible without clear labelling. \u201eThe new rules provide security for consumers and reassure reputable companies in their current and future endeavours,\u201c Biss sums up.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Companies use a wide variety of platforms, and many create their own \u201egreen\u201c logo.\n(Images: flustix, Tyler Olson\/shutterstock | Montage: packaging journal)<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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According to Malte Biss, promises such as \u201eclimate-positive\u201c or \u201eplastic-positive\u201c should also be scrutinised, and now in many cases even the claim \u201eclimate-neutral\u201c, i.e. anything that does not appear to be verifiable. In addition, there are also advertising promises in the guise of labels: Self-created labels are used, which are associated with seals in terms of design, but are not seals without certification.<\/strong> How can you keep track of everything? Consumers want reliability and security.<\/p>