Some of the standout terms within this new law include the outlawing of generic environmental claims and other misleading product information, allowing only sustainability labels based on approved certification or established by public authorities, and ensuring that information is more visible and legible.

To do all of this the new rules ban the use of general claims like environmentally friendly”, “natural”, “biodegradable”, “climate neutral” or “eco” without proof.

The EU will also introduce a new guarantee extension label as part of the directive that was adopted yesterday with a whopping  593 votes in favour, 21 against, and 14 abstentions.

The law seeks to protect consumers from misleading marketing practices and help them make better purchasing choices.

The use of sustainability labels will also now be regulated, given the confusion caused by their proliferation and failure to use comparative data. In the future, only sustainability labels based on official certification schemes or established by public authorities will be allowed in the EU.

Moreover, the directive will ban claims that a product has a neutral, reduced, or positive impact on the environment because of emissions offsetting schemes.

Another important objective of this new law is making producers and consumers focus more on the “durability of goods”. So, information will be more visible and a new, harmonised label will be created to give more prominence to goods with an extended guarantee period.

The new rules will also ban unfounded durability claims – like saying that a washing machine will last for 5,000 washing cycles if this is not true under normal conditions, prompts to replace consumables earlier than strictly necessary – often the case with printer ink, for example, and presenting goods as repairable when they are not.

“People will be able to choose products that are more durable, repairable, and sustainable thanks to reliable labels and advertisements. Most importantly, companies can no longer trick people by saying that plastic bottles are good because the company planted trees somewhere – or saying that something is sustainable without explaining how. This is a big win for all of us!”

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Do you think this law will have a positive impact on the climate as well as citizens’ everyday lives?