What drives brands to shift to certified material claims?

We estimate that around 30 different voluntary sustainability standards are used in the textile industry (around 450 across all industries). The number of environmental and social claims used is even higher. Many of these product claims are very generic, using terms such as ‘sustainable material’, ‘greener choice’, ‘responsibly produced’ etc, and have resulted in a lot of confusion for the consumers. According to the EU Eurobarometer, 30% of European consumers have experienced exaggerated or misleading sustainability claims. This marketing practice, that is known as “greenwashing” is being increasingly condemned by the consumers that are asking for regulation. Regulatory bodies in different countries across the globe have started to legislate at various levels to tackle this issue across all industries. 

 

1st level: Anti-Greenwashing Guidance

To tackle this issue, several countries (such as Denmark, USA and the UK) have written and published Green Claims Guides for companies, including fashion brands, on how to legally make green claims on their products. These texts are not laws as such, they are guides on how to comply with broader marketing and communication laws in the context of sustainability claims. The general requirements of these guides are similar, and they agree on the following points: 

  • Claims must be accurate, reliable, and easily understandable 
  • Claims must be substantiated by up-to-date and credible proof 
  • The scope of the claim must be precise (For example, does it concern all or part of the product?) 
  • It is strongly recommended not to make generic claims without supporting evidence (For example, eco-friendly, green, sustainable). 
  • Claims must not omit any information that would alter the environmental and social benefits set forward. Meaning that the sustainability claim shall not be made if its purpose is to draw attention away from an aspect of the product that is damaging to the environment.
  • Necessary regulatory requirements about products must not be marketed as sustainable advantages. For example, “not made with forced labour” or “without X substance” if this substance is already forbidden. 

These Green Claims Guides are a good first step to limit greenwashing as they define what is a misleading environmental and ethical claim. However, it has not always proven to be sufficient: the guides struggle to get the attention from brands, as they have not triggered sufficient adaptation. 

 

2nd level: Marketing Laws 

Most countries and regional organizations have marketing acts to regulate misleading and unfair commercial practices. Some of them are amended to include requirements in the context of a social or environmental claim.

 

In the case of the EU, the Empowering Consumers in the Green Transition Initiative (ECGTI) will amend the existing Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. This proposal aims at empowering consumers in the EU to adopt more sustainable consumption patterns by combating unfair commercial practices such as misleading advertising; ultimately to eliminate greenwashing.


The content of ECGTI as a directive aligns with the requirements of the Green Guides mentioned above (same positioning on generic claims, regulatory requirements, and scope for instance). It also regulates claims about future performance, comparison of products and other topics such as programmed early product failure (mainly applicable to electronics). 


The implementation of this directive will require all fashion brands to substantiate any claim they make on their products with reliable evidence. The use of TrusTrace’s CMC solution will allow brands to gather the necessary proof to make any claims about the presence of certified material in their garments. 

 

3rd level: More advanced requirements 

At the time of writing, several legal initiatives in the EU and France are moving towards regulating environmental footprint scoring. The EU Product Environmental Footprint Methodology (PEF) and Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation (ESPR) as well as the French AGEC and Climate & Resilience laws are regulations that will require companies to label their products with detailed sustainability information. These requirements cover environmental scoring (with a methodology like PEF), circularity (recyclability, recycled content etc.) and other sustainability information (harmful substances etc.). 


In the years to come, these laws will require brands to gather granular data about the product lifecycle and composition – making material traceability become a minimum requirement. 


The current CMC solution cannot provide data and thus compliance to all these future requirements, but tracing materials is a necessary first step towards that new standard.