The EU estimates that 53% of green marketing claims in the EU are vague, misleading, or unfounded (Commission study, 2021). The combination of the Green Claims Directive (under negotiation) and the Digital Product Passport system is designed to end this — by making sustainability claims machine-readable, specific, and legally accountable.
"In the future, 'eco-friendly' will not be enough. Every environmental claim must be specific, verifiable, and linked to data in the Digital Product Passport."
— European Commission, Green Claims Directive Proposal
The Current State: Greenwashing is Rampant
Walk through any supermarket or electronics store and you'll see labels like "eco-friendly," "sustainable," "carbon neutral," "made with recycled materials." Most of these claims have no legal definition, no verification requirement, and no accountability mechanism. Consumers have no way to check if they're true.
The Green Claims Directive
The proposed EU Green Claims Directive (COM/2023/166, expected adoption 2025) will require that any environmental claim on a product or in marketing must be: pre-approved by a conformity assessment body, based on recognised scientific methods, specific (not vague — "eco" on its own will be banned), and linked to verifiable data. The DPP is the primary mechanism for making that verifiable data accessible.
How DPPs Prevent Greenwashing
- Mandatory fields: If your sector regulation requires a carbon footprint in the DPP, you can't just claim "low carbon" without a specific number that's machine-verifiable.
- Third-party verification: Carbon footprint values and recycled content claims in the DPP must be verified by accredited bodies — not self-declared.
- Audit trail: Every DPP update is timestamped and logged. Authorities can see if a claim was changed after a product was already on the market.
- Cross-reference: Market surveillance authorities can compare DPP data against customs declarations, laboratory test results, and supplier audit data.
What This Means for Your Marketing
If you make any of these claims on packaging or advertising, you need to ensure the DPP backs them up: "X% recycled content" → must match DPP recycled content field; "Carbon neutral" → must be substantiated with DPP carbon footprint data + offset certificate reference; "Made in EU" → must match DPP country of origin data.
The Positive Opportunity
DPPs also create a verifiable way to substantiate genuine sustainability leadership. If your product really does have the lowest carbon footprint in its category, the DPP lets you prove it — and your customers (B2B procurement teams running Scope 3 reporting) will increasingly demand this proof.