Inglise keeles: “ökosõbralik”
A blanket friendliness claim tells the buyer nothing measurable. It is only allowed where you can demonstrate recognised excellent environmental performance covering the whole product, which in practice means an EU Ecolabel or an equivalent Type I scheme.
Ütle selle asemel nii
Name the benefit and its proof: "Packaging is 90% post-consumer recycled board, FSC-C000000."
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
Inglise keeles: “roheline”
“Green” is the textbook generic claim: no scope, no metric, no verification. It is also a colour and a common proper noun, so a match here is a prompt to look, not a conclusion — check whether the word is doing any environmental work in the sentence.
Ütle selle asemel nii
Replace with the specific attribute you can evidence, e.g. "Dyed without heavy metals (ZDHC MRSL Level 3)."
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
Inglise keeles: “jätkusuutlik”
Sustainability is a whole-lifecycle property. Used as an adjective for a product it asserts excellence across every impact category, which needs lifecycle evidence almost no seller holds.
Ütle selle asemel nii
State the one impact you measured: "Uses 38% less water per unit than our 2022 process (verified by SGS, report ENV-2025-411)."
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
Inglise keeles: “looduslik”
"Natural" reads as an environmental and safety benefit but has no legal definition outside food and cosmetics standards. Natural origin also does not make a substance harmless.
Ütle selle asemel nii
Quantify the composition: "92% plant-derived ingredients (ISO 16128 natural origin index 0.92)."
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
Inglise keeles: “keskkonnasõbralik”
Same defect as "eco-friendly" in longer form. It claims net benefit to the environment as a whole while every physical product carries a footprint.
Ütle selle asemel nii
Describe the reduction against a stated baseline: "Cuts packaging weight by 41% versus our previous carton."
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
Inglise keeles: “maasõbralik”
A planetary-scale benefit claim with no scope, no metric and no possible substantiation for an individual product.
Ütle selle asemel nii
Swap in a verifiable fact about one lifecycle stage, with the certificate or test that backs it.
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
Implies the product is beneficial, or at least neutral, for the planet overall. That is an aggregate claim requiring full lifecycle evidence.
Ütle selle asemel nii
Name the stage and the number: "Shipped by rail from our EU warehouse — 76% lower transport emissions than air freight."
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
In marketing "clean" borrows the authority of a standard that does not exist. It suggests both environmental and toxicological safety without defining either.
Ütle selle asemel nii
List what is excluded and against which list: "Formulated without the 1,700 substances on the EU cosmetics Annex II."
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
Inglise keeles: “keskkonnateadlik”
A vague virtue word used as a product tier name. Regulators have treated collection names like this as environmental claims subject to the same substantiation duty.
Ütle selle asemel nii
If it names a collection, state the criterion for inclusion: "Every item in this line is at least 70% GRS-certified recycled fibre."
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
"Responsibly made" or "responsible sourcing" asserts ethical and environmental diligence without naming the standard the diligence is measured against.
Ütle selle asemel nii
Name the scheme and coverage: "98% of our cotton is sourced through Better Cotton (2025 volume)."
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
Inglise keeles: “mürgivaba”
Toxicity is dose-dependent and substance-specific, so a blanket "non-toxic" is not demonstrable. It also implies competitors are toxic.
Ütle selle asemel nii
Point to the classification: "Not classified as hazardous under CLP Regulation 1272/2008."
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
The bare prefix, used on badges and product tiers, carries the same implied overall benefit as "eco-friendly" while being even less specific.
Ütle selle asemel nii
Drop the prefix and show the licence: "EU Ecolabel, licence EU/030/123."
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
Inglise keeles: “loodussõbralik”
A figurative benefit claim. Regulators read implied environmental claims the same way as explicit ones, and the figurative framing makes it harder, not easier, to substantiate.
Ütle selle asemel nii
Replace with a factual statement about a measured impact.
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
Inglise keeles: “ökoloogiline”
Presented as a quality mark, it asserts general environmental soundness. In several member states it is also treated as implying organic certification.
Ütle selle asemel nii
Use the certified term you actually hold, e.g. "Certified organic under Regulation (EU) 2018/848."
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
Inglise keeles: “keskkonnahoidlik”
Claims conformity with an unstated environmental norm. There is no such general norm, so the claim cannot be tested.
Ütle selle asemel nii
Cite the actual standard you conform to and its scope.
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
Inglise keeles: “kliimasõbralik”
Suggests a positive or neutral climate effect for a product that still emits. Where the basis is offsetting it also breaches the offsetting ban.
Ütle selle asemel nii
Give the footprint and the trend: "4.2 kg CO2e per unit (ISO 14067), down 19% since 2023."
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
Inglise keeles: “keskkonnasäästlik”
A softened generic claim. Softening the wording does not narrow the scope — it still asserts low overall impact.
Ütle selle asemel nii
Name the impact you reduced and by how much, against a stated baseline.
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
Inglise keeles: “keskkonnale ohutu”
An absolute negative claim about all environmental compartments. It cannot be demonstrated for a manufactured good.
Ütle selle asemel nii
State the specific hazard classification result instead, e.g. "Not classified as hazardous to the aquatic environment."
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
Implies emissions are benign. Combines the generic-claim problem with an unquantified climate assertion.
Ütle selle asemel nii
Publish the number: "Product carbon footprint 2.8 kg CO2e, calculated to ISO 14067 and third-party verified."
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
Inglise keeles: “jätkusuutlikkus”
Used as a product or badge label (“Sustainability score”, “Sustainability choice”) it is a generic claim and has to be substantiated. The word also has a legitimate use as the title of a real report or policy page — we cannot tell the two apart from the wording alone, so we flag it and leave the judgement to you. If this instance is a report title, mark it and move on.
Ütle selle asemel nii
Keep the word for your reporting; on products use the measured attribute and its evidence.
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
Asserts net positive planetary impact — the strongest form of generic claim and the least substantiable.
Ütle selle asemel nii
Reframe as a comparison you can evidence, with method and source disclosed.
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
Inglise keeles: “roheline valik”
A steering label that tells the consumer this option is environmentally better without disclosing the criterion or the comparison set.
Ütle selle asemel nii
If you rank options, publish the criteria and the data behind the ranking next to the badge.
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
Implies both environmental cleanliness and absence of unwanted substances, with neither defined. Fine as a material descriptor ("pure wool"), not as a virtue claim.
Ütle selle asemel nii
Restrict it to composition facts: "100% pure new wool."
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
Recital 9 of Directive 2024/825 names "energy efficient" in its own list of generic environmental claims. Without an efficiency class, a measured figure or a named test standard on the same medium, it claims excellent performance the trader has to be able to demonstrate.
Ütle selle asemel nii
"Energy class A under EU 2017/1369, 42 kWh/annum in the standard cycle."
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim without demonstrated recognised excellent environmental performance)
Inglise keeles: “taastav põllumajandus”, “regeneratiivne põllumajandus”
“Regenerative” asserts that the activity leaves the environment better than it found it — a stronger claim than sustainability, and one with no agreed definition or certification scheme behind it in most sectors. It is one of the fastest-growing claims in fashion and food and among the least substantiated. We only flag it in the collocations where it is an environmental claim (regenerative agriculture, cotton, sourcing, economy). “Regenerative Energien” is German for renewable energy, “regenerative braking” is a brake and “regenerative medicine” is a field of research — none of those is a claim about this product.
Ütle selle asemel nii
Name the practice and the measured outcome: “Soil organic carbon up 0.4 percentage points across 1,200 ha, measured 2021–2025 to ISO 17025 by [lab].”
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
Inglise keeles: “positiivne mõju keskkonnale”
Asserting a net positive effect is the strongest form of generic environmental claim: it implies the activity does more good than harm overall, which almost no commercial operation can demonstrate across a full life cycle.
Ütle selle asemel nii
Drop the net claim and state one measured effect with its boundary, or describe the initiative without claiming its net result.
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)
Inglise keeles: “kooskõlas loodusega”
Harmony and respect are not measurable properties. The claim reads as an environmental benefit while committing to nothing a buyer or an authority could check. “Please respect nature and stay on the path” is an instruction to a visitor, not a claim about a product, so the bare verb is not flagged.
Ütle selle asemel nii
Replace with the practice you can evidence: the standard you farm to, the certification, or the measured effect on a named indicator.
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim)