In March 2024, the EU made a decision on a new law that will make green painting, also known as “greenwashing”, more difficult. This means that companies that describe their products in more or less vague ways as climate smart must stop doing so.
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For example, one-liners such as “Net zero carbon footprint” will be disallowed if the claims cannot be backed up. But that’s just an example.
Even expressions such as “environmentally friendly”, “natural”, “biodegradable”, “climate neutral” and “eco” will be prohibited if they lack a reasonable basis. Dagligvarnytt was the first to report on it.
– The EU wants to address the problem that more than half of all environmental claims that are made are green paint, says Rebecca Hovenbergsenior consultant at 2050 consulting, to the newspaperand continues:
– Companies will be forced to replace snappy one-liners with formulations that can be proven.
The new law will enter into force within the next two years.
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Arla: “We removed the message Net zero climate footprint”
A company that already had to eat its climate footprint claims early on is Arla foods. In 2022, they were convicted by the Swedish Consumer Agency for misleading marketing. The reason was the wording “Net zero climate footprint” that was on their milk packaging.
– We removed the message “Net zero climate footprint” from our packaging in 2022, says Max Wallenbergpress manager for Arla Sweden, for News24.
Now Arla may be forced to remove even more slogans relating to the climate from various packaging.
– We do not yet know exactly how the EU directive for environmental claims will affect us because it is still being negotiated within the EU, says Victoria Olssonhead of sustainability for Arla Sweden, to Nyheter24, and continues:
– It is important that consumers receive sufficient and reliable information to be able to make informed choices.
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Arla on the new EU legislation: “A risk”
Arla is not entirely positive about the new legislation. Victoria Olsson sees a risk with the new provision.
– However, there may be a risk that the legislation will become so square that companies will stop telling about their work for climate and the environment, which in turn can have a negative impact on sustainability work, she tells Nyheter24.
Currently, there are still indications on Arla’s packaging about the environment and sustainability.
Some milk packaging is equipped with a text that says “Follow our climate journey” and where you can read about what Arla is doing to produce more sustainably.
Then the organic milk is marked with “Eko”, something that it is still unclear whether it will be allowed to remain – it depends on whether the EU considers that there is a reasonable basis for the expression or not.
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