A study by the European Commission says that about half of the environmental claims we frequently see in product advertisements are “vague, misleading or unfounded information about the environmental characteristics of products”.
According to a draft document, 53 percent of the hundreds of ad claims evaluated in 2020 were not entirely true. “Climate claims have turned out to be particularly vague and ambiguous and tend to mislead consumers,” the draft says.
This research was carried out as part of a proposed amendment to the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, introduced last year, with the aim of eliminating “general, vague environmental claims where excellent environmental performance of the product or trader cannot be proven”.
The European Union says claims such as “100 percent recycled” or “all-natural” ingredients should be specifically considered, and is proposing a new set of regulations that could offer a framework for assessing the environmental impact of products. Packaging waste and the repairability of laptops and phones are already covered by the new rules.
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