Green claims compliance is about to become an important factor for many brands.
Today’s consumers care about protecting the planet. Leading CPG brands know this and are keen to forge an eco-friendly reputation. They are attributing sustainability qualities to their packaging. Yet often they get ahead of themselves.
As a result, many attempts at promoting green and eco-friendly credentials have turned out to be unclear, unsubstantiated or untrue, leaving consumers confused and suspicious.
The practice of attributing green claims to your offers is known as greenwashing – or greenhushing if inconvenient information is omitted to create a false impression.
Governments around the world are stepping in with regulation in a bid to put a stop to it.
Goodbye to greenwashing
Scrutiny of sustainability credentials has never been higher. There have already been some instances of high profile brands having their declarations challenged. According to EU research:
- 53% of green claims have vague, misleading or unfounded information.
- 40% of claims have no supporting evidence.
- 50% of all green labels offer weak or non-existent verification.
Hardly surprising then that governments around the globe are turning their attention to this issue—and it will bring some hard work for producers if they are to achieve green claims compliance.
- The EU is preparing to bring in its new Green Claims Directive (GCD) to protect consumers against greenwashing.
- In the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has updated guidance to British businesses in its Green Claims Code after securing commitments from several leading fashion brands to make their sustainability statements clearer and more accurate.
- Similar measures to deter deceptive practices around environmental marketing claims have been taken by the authorities in the U.S.
- Companies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are also coming under increasing pressure to improve their overall sustainability.
- Although currently there are no specific green claims rules, broader regulations ban false or misleading or exaggerated claims in both Saudi Arabia and the UAE. With consumerism and buyer interest in sustainability there on the rise, the region is certainly one to keep an eye on.
By placing the onus on producers to provide auditable proof of green claims, regulators have set the bar higher than it has ever been for green claims compliance.
Just saying you are green is no longer enough. You must now prove it.
No data, no proof
Taking control of packaging data is now strategically important to your continued commercial success.
The Green Claims Directive will come in at the end of 2027, with six months for Member States to get their act together on implementation.
As producers, this gives you time to review your models, systems and processes to make sure all the green claims on your labelling and artwork is accurate and can be proven if questioned.
Accomplishing the high degree of accuracy and detail implicit emerging regulations and standard requires you to understand the green credentials of your products and your packaging at a granular level. That means collecting, collating, validating and keeping current ALL the underlying data about these aspects, spanning both product and packaging.
Data, data everywhere
This data is critical to substantiating green claims, and it sits alongside all the other essential data about your products and packaging. Everything underlying your green claims that pertain to regulatory reporting around waste or sustainability must integrate seamlessly into your EPR and financial reporting systems. Data must also be shared transparently into all the systems you use to manage and monitor your Environmental, Sustainability and Governance (ESG) activities overall.
To have the data at hand involves tracking and collecting packaging data at every stage to ensure subsequent sustainability claims are accurate and irrefutable – wherever that information comes from in your supply chain.
To be compliant within the timeframe you may need to address many areas, including:
- effective leadership that starts with assigning ownership of what may need to be a rapid transformation.
- a centralised repository of data spanning product ingredients and specifications, provenance, packaging and other supplier information. This must integrate closely with ERP and other systems of record to ensure data is fully synchronised.
- a fit for purpose platform with the capability to manage and connects master data about product, packaging, artworking and related processes and documentation to form a single source of truth that can be accessed by all those who need it.
- reliable and robust collaborative processes for integrating third party data and sharing your data with supply chain partners such as retailers, to help them meet their own reporting requirements and sustain your attractiveness as a brand partner.
- consistent specification documentation as well as rigorous version control and automatic deduplication as required.
- centralised and coordinated management of regulatory standards and reporting requirements – including those for green claims, food allergen declarations, ingredient labelling rules, nutritional fact data and scores, and also those which pertain to packaging and waste.
- shared access to relevant data, specifications, digital assets and related documentation to support your internal team, external suppliers, and partners.
Get Going on Green Claims Compliance
Green packaging claims by CPG brands are coming under growing scrutiny, and it’s time for every producer to get their green claims compliance in place.
Many businesses still argue they do not have the information or the resources to report back their green data in the depth of detail that regulators demand, such as around packaging waste and recyclability. Others are simply unsure or unaware of their obligations.
If your business falls into either category, and you fall in scope of the regulations, then you will very soon have no choice. It is imperative that you rapidly gain control over your product and packaging data.
4Pack helps CPG organisations quickly gain insight, streamline workflows and collaboration between extended teams to manage critical data, avoid duplication and reduce risk.
With a single integrated source of truth, you will always have comprehensive insight into your product and packaging data, including all your labelling, so you can continue to thrive in a continually evolving regulatory landscape.
