The PPWR and the Green Claims Directive
What is the upcoming Green Claims Directive (GCD)?
An environmental claim is any message or representation which is not mandatory under Union or national law, in any form, including text, pictorial, graphic or symbolic representation, such as labels, brand names, company names or product names, in the context of a commercial communication, and which states or implies that a product, product category, brand or trader has a positive or zero impact on the environment or is less damaging to the environment than other products, product categories, brands or traders, or has improved its impact over time.
Businesses should also keep in mind the upcoming Directive on substantiation and communication of explicit environmental claims (Green Claims Directive or GCD).
The EU will require traders that make environmental claims towards EU consumers on the EU market to carry out an assessment of these claims. Such claims must be substantiated by providing information on environmental impacts, aspects or performance (including underlying studies, calculations etc) and must be significant. The information must be made available physically, via weblink or a QR code.
How could the upcoming GCD overlap or interact with the PPWR?
At the time of writing, the GCD is still being negotiated and could therefore change significantly before its adoption.
The proposal for aspecifies that it “does not apply to environmental labelling schemes or to explicit environmental claims regulated by or substantiated by rules” established in several pieces of legislation. This includes the PPWD, which the PPWR replaced (Article 1(2)(k) of the Commission’s proposal for a GCD). Article 14 of the PPWR is dedicated to claims on packaging.
Should Article 1(2)(k) of the Commission’s proposal for a GCD not feature in the final text of the GCD, this means that claims on packaging will be subject to the requirements of both the PPWR and the GCD. Companies are therefore advised to closely follow the legislative process of the GCD.
Businesses should also check the national laws and regulations of each of the Member States where they operate, as the PPWR allows for deviations or further regulation at national level. Please also note that the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive complements the requirements of the Green Claims Directive.
Useful Links
EU Commission’s Proposal for a Directive on substantiation and communication of explicit environmental claims (Green Claims Directive), see here.