Greenwashing

What is greenwashing?

Greenwashing is a term used when a company falsely presents its products or services as environmentally friendly or sustainable with the intention of attracting environmentally conscious consumers. Instead of making actual efforts to reduce harmful environmental impacts, these companies use deceptive marketing practices to create an appearance of environmental friendliness. This can be done, for example, by using vague or misleading claims about the environmental friendliness of their products without being able to substantiate these claims. The bottom line is that these companies spend more money on advertising and public relations than on actual environmentally friendly improvements.

Depending on the circumstances, greenwashing may include all types of claims, information, symbols, logos, images and brand names, as well as their interaction with colors, on packaging, labels, advertising and in all media (including websites).

This usually involves an "environmental claim" or a "green claim" where advertising and marketing suggest that a product has a positive or no impact on the environment, or does less harm to the environment than competing products.

Is there a law prohibiting greenwashing?

There is currently no law in Belgium that specifically prohibits greenwashing. However, there is the general provision prohibiting misleading advertising. The Federal Public Service Economy has also issued a number of guidelines published on its website.

In 2024, the EU legislature approved a directive that aims to combat greenwashing. It involves the so-called Greenwashing Directive No. 2024/825 of Feb. 28, 2024. The directive specifically seeks to combat false or misleading environmental claims. The Belgian legislature must transpose this directive into Belgian law by March 27, 2026.

What does the (future) ban on greenwashing entail?

The Greenwashing Directive stipulates that under no circumstances may a company give consumers misleading information about the environmental or social characteristics, accessories, circularity aspects such as durability, reparability or recyclability of products.

Moreover, environmental claims are prohibited regarding future environmental performance without clear, objective, publicly available and verifiable commitments set out in a comprehensive and realistic implementation plan. If there is such a plan, it should be regularly verified by an independent external expert, whose findings should be made available to consumers.

Moreover, it is also forbidden to:

• Display a sustainability label that is not based on a certification scheme or not established by government agencies. Fictitious labels that do not actually exist can therefore no longer be used.
• To make a generic environmental claim without the company being able to demonstrate recognized environmental excellence relevant to the claim. Thus, the claim that a product is good for the environment without substantiation is no longer allowed
• Making an environmental claim for the entire product or all of the company's business activities, when the claim only relates to a certain aspect of the product or a specific business activity of the company. Thus, claiming that an electric bicycle is green, when at most riding via electricity generated by wind turbines can be green, is no longer allowed.
• to claim that a product has a neutral, reduced or positive environmental impact in terms of greenhouse gas emissions thanks to the offsetting of greenhouse gas emissions. Charging supplements to offset CO2 emissions, such as when delivering packages ordered through a web store or when purchasing airline tickets, is thus no longer allowed.

So from now on it will be the company that will have to prove that an environmental claim for its product or service is correct. He will have to be able to present a certificate, an (ISO) standard or a government decision to do so.

What are the penalties if greenwashing does occur?

Companies that do greenwash can be ordered by the courts (at the request of a consumer or competitor) to stop doing so.

Moreover, violations can also be criminally sanctioned I with a fine of up to €80,000 (or up to 4% of annual sales, whichever is higher)