To promote the circular economy in Europe, the European Commission is now presenting a new regulatory proposal that seeks to put an end to "misleading" environmental claims. A proposal aimed, among other things, at stopping the proliferation of new "green" labels, both public and private, and which must now be approved by the European Parliament and the European Council.
The new package of measures thus precisely completes the proposal presented by the same Commission in March 2022 and aims to establish common criteria across Europe against "greenwashing" and "misleading environmental claims". With this objective, the Commission wants to ensure that all consumers have more clarity and guarantees when they buy, for example, a fashion item, as thanks to this new legislation they'll be able to identify and compare much more clearly the same category of proposals and choose an option that really is the most respectful with the environment.
These guarantees of transparency and truthfulness, which, according to the commission, will positively impact companies, insofar as consumers will be able to freely recognize and reward those truly committed to promoting a more sustainable and sustainable and environmentally-friendly business model.
In this way, according to the Commission, companies will be able to ensure that they enjoy equal opportunities for competition, without having to face the unfair competition that currently means having to put their sustainable products in competition with those that are only sustainable in appearance, due to "greenwashing" practices.
New Measures for a Circular Economy
In addition to the first package of measures for the circular economy, adopted in March 2022, with measures against "Fast Fashion" and "Greenwashing", followed by a second package in November of the same year, with the presentation of proposals for plastic packaging and the elimination of carbon.
The basis for this new proposal is the study carried out by the Commission in 2020, which established that 53.3 percent of the EU's environmental claims were vague, misleading or unfounded and that 40 percent were completely unsubstantiated. A complete lack of guarantees was fed by the absence of applicable Community rules for companies making environmental claims of this nature, an absence that is precisely the main objective of this new proposal.
Under the provisions of the initiative now presented by the Commission, from its adoption, all companies must substantiate and communicate any environmental claims they wish to make on their products or services, based on minimum standards that will involve, among other actions, the duty to have an independent verification and scientific evidence. The only excluded cases are those declarations made on the basis of standards already in force within the European Union, such as those that qualify for the EU eco-label or the organic food logo, since they already depend on a regulated analysis.
The Commission has pointed out that as part of this scientific analysis, companies will determine the environmental impacts that are really relevant to their product and define any compensation, in order to provide a complete and accurate picture of the sustainable values of their products.
Curbing Public and Private "Green" Labels
Regarding the controversial issue of "green labeling", the new proposal aims to put a stop to the appearance of new environmental labels, both public and private, and promoted by the companies themselves. To this end, it stipulates a ban on the appearance of new labels, with the exception, in the case of public labeling, that it must be formulated at the level of the entire European Union, and in the case of private labeling, that it must demonstrate higher requirements than any current labeling, as well as the need to obtain prior authorization.
In this way, the proposal also aims to avoid the proliferation of labels and new public and private environmental labels", the Commission summarizes. There are currently at least 230 different labels and there are indications that this creates confusion and mistrust among consumers. in response, no new public labeling schemes will be allowed unless they are formulated at the EU level, while any new private scheme will have to demonstrate greater environmental ambition than existing ones" and must obtain prior approval in order to be authorized.
The Most Transparent Fashion Brands
In its Fashion Transparency Index, Fashion Revolution analyzes the world's 250 largest fashion brands and retailers based on their public reporting of policies, practices, and environmental and human rights impacts in their operations and supply chains.
No brand scored more than 80% of the possible 250 points. The only one that comes close is Italy's OVS (78%), which is at the top of the ranking, replacing Swedish giant H&M, in second place this year. In the 60% to 70% bracket are The North Face, Timberland, C&A, Vans, and Gildan. Other well-positioned brands include Esprit, Benetton, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Van Heusen, Gucci, Converse, Nike, Ugg, adidas, and Reebok.