United States
Federal Trade Commission
16 CFR Part 260 — Green Guides, 2012 revision
In force. Review opened December 2022, comments closed 24 April 2023, nothing published since.
Claims law
Which rule decides whether you may print that.
The same four words are lawful in one market and a prohibited practice in another. Choose where you are selling and what you want to say. Every answer below is the operative wording from the instrument, with the citation attached.
Claim checker
Reference, not advice. Read the cited section before you act on it.
16 CFR § 260.8
Qualify or substantiate
Complete decomposition within one year
An unqualified degradable claim is deceptive unless the entire item “will completely decompose within one year after customary disposal”. Because items customarily go to landfill, incineration or recycling — where that does not happen — an unqualified claim on such an item fails, whatever the material is capable of in a laboratory.
Instrument
16 CFR Part 260 — Green Guides, 2012 revision
Status
In force. Review opened December 2022, comments closed 24 April 2023, nothing published since.
16 CFR § 260.12
Numeric test exists
Facilities available to at least 60 per cent
An unqualified recyclable claim requires recycling facilities available to “a substantial majority of consumers or communities where the item is sold” — defined in the Guides as at least 60 per cent. Below that figure the claim survives only if it is qualified to disclose the limited availability.
Instrument
16 CFR Part 260 — Green Guides, 2012 revision
Status
In force. Review opened December 2022, comments closed 24 April 2023, nothing published since.
16 CFR § 260.7
Qualify or substantiate
Breaks down at approximately the same rate
Requires evidence that all materials break down into usable compost “in approximately the same time as the materials with which it is composted”. If composting facilities are not available to a substantial majority of consumers, the claim must say so. Industrial-only compostability stated as plain “compostable” is the common failure.
Instrument
16 CFR Part 260 — Green Guides, 2012 revision
Status
In force. Review opened December 2022, comments closed 24 April 2023, nothing published since.
16 CFR § 260.4
Prohibited unqualified
Unqualified general benefit claims are deceptive
The Guides treat unqualified general environmental benefit claims as conveying far-reaching benefits that are almost never substantiable. A marketer should either not make the claim, or qualify it with the specific benefit and hold evidence for that benefit.
Instrument
16 CFR Part 260 — Green Guides, 2012 revision
Status
In force. Review opened December 2022, comments closed 24 April 2023, nothing published since.
16 CFR § 260.6
Qualify or substantiate
The seal must convey its basis
A seal that does not convey the basis for its certification is likely to convey a general environmental benefit, which the Guides treat as deceptive. Third-party certification does not relieve the marketer of substantiating every claim the seal reasonably conveys.
Instrument
16 CFR Part 260 — Green Guides, 2012 revision
Status
In force. Review opened December 2022, comments closed 24 April 2023, nothing published since.
16 CFR § 260.5
Qualify or substantiate
Disclose delays of two years or longer
Marketers must use competent and reliable scientific and accounting methods, must not sell the same reduction twice, and must clearly disclose if the emission reduction will not occur for two years or longer. Reductions already required by law cannot be claimed as offsets.
Instrument
16 CFR Part 260 — Green Guides, 2012 revision
Status
In force. Review opened December 2022, comments closed 24 April 2023, nothing published since.
16 CFR §§ 260.15, 260.16
Qualify or substantiate
All, or virtually all
For renewable energy: an unqualified claim requires that all, or virtually all, significant manufacturing processes are powered by renewable energy, with any fossil use matched by renewable energy certificates. For renewable materials: the product or package must be made entirely from renewable materials, minor incidental components aside, and the marketer should identify the material and say why it is renewable.
Instrument
16 CFR Part 260 — Green Guides, 2012 revision
Status
In force. Review opened December 2022, comments closed 24 April 2023, nothing published since.
16 CFR § 260.13
Unverified on this site
Not yet written up on this site
Recycled-content claims are governed by § 260.13, which has not yet been read against its source and written up here. Rather than summarize it from memory, this cell is marked unverified. Read the section directly, and see the recycled polyester page for what the underlying supply actually looks like.
Instrument
16 CFR Part 260 — Green Guides, 2012 revision
Status
In force. Review opened December 2022, comments closed 24 April 2023, nothing published since.
Directive (EU) 2024/825
Qualify or substantiate
No numeric test in the Directive
The Directive sets no decomposition period. The claim is governed by the general prohibition on misleading practices, and if it is worded as a broad environmental benefit it must clear the generic-claim test below. Member State transposition may add detail; check the national implementation for the market you sell into.
Instrument
Directive (EU) 2024/825 — Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition
Status
Applies from 27 September 2026. Transposition deadline was 27 March 2026.
Directive (EU) 2024/825
Qualify or substantiate
No numeric availability threshold
No percentage appears in the Directive. The claim must not mislead about what is actually recyclable in practice in the market where the product is sold, and a claim about the whole product when only part is recyclable is the classic failure.
Instrument
Directive (EU) 2024/825 — Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition
Status
Applies from 27 September 2026. Transposition deadline was 27 March 2026.
Directive (EU) 2024/825
Qualify or substantiate
No numeric test in the Directive
No timescale is set. The general misleading-practices rules apply, and omitting that the product only composts in an industrial facility is the material omission most likely to be challenged.
Instrument
Directive (EU) 2024/825 — Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition
Status
Applies from 27 September 2026. Transposition deadline was 27 March 2026.
Directive (EU) 2024/825
Prohibited unqualified
Recognized excellent environmental performance
From 27 September 2026 a generic environmental claim is a prohibited commercial practice where the trader cannot demonstrate recognized excellent environmental performance relevant to the claim. The words are not banned; using them without that demonstration is.
Instrument
Directive (EU) 2024/825 — Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition
Status
Applies from 27 September 2026. Transposition deadline was 27 March 2026.
Directive (EU) 2024/825
Prohibited unqualified
Certification scheme or public authority
From 27 September 2026, displaying a sustainability label that is not based on a certification scheme, or not established by public authorities, is a prohibited practice. Schemes must meet minimum standards of transparency and credibility with independent third-party monitoring.
Instrument
Directive (EU) 2024/825 — Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition
Status
Applies from 27 September 2026. Transposition deadline was 27 March 2026.
Directive (EU) 2024/825
Prohibited unqualified
Offset-based neutrality claims prohibited
From 27 September 2026 it is a prohibited practice to claim that a product has a neutral, reduced or positive effect on the environment on the basis of emissions offsetting. This is the provision that removes “carbon neutral” from packaging where the neutrality was bought rather than achieved.
Instrument
Directive (EU) 2024/825 — Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition
Status
Applies from 27 September 2026. Transposition deadline was 27 March 2026.
Directive (EU) 2024/825
Qualify or substantiate
No specific threshold
No proportion is fixed. A claim about part of the process presented as a claim about the product would be misleading under the general rules.
Instrument
Directive (EU) 2024/825 — Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition
Status
Applies from 27 September 2026. Transposition deadline was 27 March 2026.
Directive (EU) 2024/825
Qualify or substantiate
No specific threshold
No percentage is set. The claim must be accurate about which component carries the recycled content and how much, and a chain-of-custody certificate such as GRS or RCS is the usual evidence.
Instrument
Directive (EU) 2024/825 — Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition
Status
Applies from 27 September 2026. Transposition deadline was 27 March 2026.
CMA Green Claims Code
Qualify or substantiate
No numeric test in the Code
The Code sets no period. The claim must be truthful, clear, must not omit that disposal conditions decide the outcome, and must be substantiated with evidence relevant to how the product is actually thrown away.
Instrument
Consumer protection law, read through the CMA Green Claims Code
Status
Code published 20 September 2021, last updated 3 June 2026.
CMA Green Claims Code
Qualify or substantiate
No numeric availability threshold
The Code requires that important information is not omitted — which in practice means saying which component is recyclable and whether collection actually exists where the buyer lives.
Instrument
Consumer protection law, read through the CMA Green Claims Code
Status
Code published 20 September 2021, last updated 3 June 2026.
CMA Green Claims Code
Qualify or substantiate
No numeric test in the Code
Falls under the principles on omission and substantiation: the conditions required for composting are exactly the “important information” the Code says cannot be hidden.
Instrument
Consumer protection law, read through the CMA Green Claims Code
Status
Code published 20 September 2021, last updated 3 June 2026.
CMA Green Claims Code
Qualify or substantiate
Truthful, unambiguous, substantiated
A broad term must still be accurate, must not overstate the benefit, and must be backed by robust, credible, relevant and current evidence covering the full life cycle.
Instrument
Consumer protection law, read through the CMA Green Claims Code
Status
Code published 20 September 2021, last updated 3 June 2026.
CMA Green Claims Code
Qualify or substantiate
Must not mislead as to its meaning
A label is a claim. It must be clear what has been certified, by whom and against what — a mark that implies more than the scheme actually assessed omits important information.
Instrument
Consumer protection law, read through the CMA Green Claims Code
Status
Code published 20 September 2021, last updated 3 June 2026.
CMA Green Claims Code
Qualify or substantiate
Full life cycle and substantiation
A neutrality claim must account for the full life cycle and be substantiated. The Code does not prohibit offset-based claims outright, but the burden of evidence and the duty not to omit how neutrality was reached both bite hard.
Instrument
Consumer protection law, read through the CMA Green Claims Code
Status
Code published 20 September 2021, last updated 3 June 2026.
CMA Green Claims Code
Qualify or substantiate
No specific threshold
Governed by the principles: be specific about what is renewable, do not let a claim about one input read as a claim about the whole product.
Instrument
Consumer protection law, read through the CMA Green Claims Code
Status
Code published 20 September 2021, last updated 3 June 2026.
CMA Green Claims Code
Qualify or substantiate
No specific threshold
The Code requires the claim to be clear about what proportion of what is recycled, and to be substantiated — in practice, by a certificate whose scope actually reaches the product.
Instrument
Consumer protection law, read through the CMA Green Claims Code
Status
Code published 20 September 2021, last updated 3 June 2026.
The three instruments
European Union
National consumer authorities
Directive (EU) 2024/825 — Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition
Applies from 27 September 2026. Transposition deadline was 27 March 2026.
United Kingdom
Competition and Markets Authority
Consumer protection law, read through the CMA Green Claims Code
Code published 20 September 2021, last updated 3 June 2026.
Where a cell says unverified, that is deliberate. It means the section has not yet been read against its source and written up here, and an estimate would be worse than a gap. The editorial policy explains how those get closed, and telling us which one you need moves it up the queue.