Green Claims

Netherlands Senate Committee Issues Blank Report on Implementing Act for Directive (EU) 2024/825 on Consumer Sustainability Information

The Dutch Senate’s Economic Affairs and Climate committee has issued a blank report on the bill implementing Directive (EU) 2024/825 on empowering consumers for the green transition, confirming it has no comments and allowing the proposal to move to plenary consideration in May 2026. This shows Dutch transposition of the EU consumer sustainability information rules is on track, so businesses targeting Dutch consumers should anticipate tighter requirements on sustainability-related marketing, green claims and pre-contract information and plan adjustments ahead of formal adoption.

23 May 2026, 09:08zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nlNetherlandsEuropean Union

Croatian Government Approves Proposals to Amend Trade, Crafts and Consumer Protection Laws

In May 2026 the Croatian Government approved proposals to tighten rules on alcohol and energy-drink sales, modernise digital consumer protection and ease crafts regulation by amending the Trade, Crafts and Consumer Protection Acts. These measures will require retailers, online platforms and service providers to upgrade age verification, digital journeys, repair options and green-claims governance once Parliament finalises the bills, so compliance teams should begin impact assessment and implementation planning now.

19 May 2026, 21:14mingo.gov.hrCroatia

California AB 2253 Advances: Environmental Marketing Claims for Recycled Content

A California Assembly committee has advanced AB 2253, a bill that would extend environmental marketing rules for recycled content from plastic food containers to all products and tighten how these claims must be documented and aligned with FTC Green Guides. If enacted, manufacturers and suppliers selling into California would need verifiable evidence of actual physical recycled content and could no longer rely on credit-based mass-balance accounting, raising compliance expectations for green marketing claims.

16 May 2026, 14:47leginfo.legislature.ca.govUnited States

US House Introduces Recycled Materials Attribution Act of 2026 (H.R. 7502)

A bipartisan US House bill (H.R. 7502) would create uniform federal standards for recycled content, recycling and recyclability claims, explicitly recognising mass balance accounting and empowering the FTC to police misleading marketing. If enacted, it could pre-empt stricter or divergent state green-claims rules, centralise oversight under the FTC, and reshape how brands substantiate and communicate recycled content across products and supply chains.

15 May 2026, 13:27govinfo.govUnited States

Germany: DUH Files Greenwashing Lawsuit Against Bayer Over Net-Zero 2050 Climate Claims

Deutsche Umwelthilfe has awarded its 2026 Goldener Geier for the most egregious greenwashing to Bayer and filed a lawsuit at the Cologne Regional Court over the company’s long-term net-zero-by-2050 climate claims. This signals mounting legal and reputational risk for corporates whose climate neutrality pledges rely heavily on offsets and lack detailed, independently verifiable decarbonisation pathways beyond 2030.

10 May 2026, 18:43duh.deGermany

EU EESC Adopts Opinion on 2030 Consumer Agenda and Action Plan for Consumers

In April 2026 the European Economic and Social Committee adopted a formal opinion on the EU's 2030 Consumer Agenda, signalling priorities for product safety, digital fairness and sustainable consumption across the single market. While non-binding, the opinion points to likely future reforms in consumer law, enforcement and green-claims rules that manufacturers, retailers and online platforms selling into the EU should monitor and factor into medium-term strategy.

8 May 2026, 07:27data.consilium.europa.euEuropean Union

Amsterdam Municipal Council Bans Public Advertising of Fossil Fuels and Meat

In May 2026, Amsterdam’s municipal council moved to ban public advertising of high-emission products such as fossil fuels, meat, air travel, cruises and cars across the city’s public spaces. This raises climate and ESG expectations for energy, transport and meat companies active in Amsterdam, signalling growing use of local advertising restrictions to curb demand for high-carbon products.

8 May 2026, 06:49business-humanrights.orgNetherlands

US N.D. California Partially Denies Motion to Dismiss Greenwashing Claims in Merrell v. Florida Crystals

In April 2026, the US District Court for the Northern District of California largely allowed a consumer class action over Florida Crystals’ “sustainable” sugar marketing to proceed, holding that broad environmental benefit claims about farming practices could plausibly mislead reasonable consumers. This keeps greenwashing litigation pressure high on food and agriculture brands using eco‑claims, highlighting the need to align product labelling and sustainability messaging with actual farming and environmental practices as cases advance into discovery and potential injunctive relief.

6 May 2026, 19:49govinfo.govUnited States

Luxembourg Draft Law Transposing Directive (EU) 2024/825 on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition

Luxembourg is advancing Draft Law PL 8648 to transpose Directive (EU) 2024/825 on empowering consumers for the green transition into its Consumer Code, with the Chamber of Employees issuing a supportive opinion and the new rules planned to apply from 27 September 2026. The law will tighten enforcement against greenwashing and early obsolescence and require new pre‑contractual information on guarantees, software updates and repairability across most consumer products, so businesses should plan changes to marketing, labelling and product design ahead of the 2026 start date.

6 May 2026, 19:40csl.luLuxembourg

California AB 1812 Would Ban 'Compostable' Labels on Plastic Products From 2027

California lawmakers are advancing AB 1812, a bill that from 1 January 2027 would ban “compostable” or “home compostable” labels on any product containing plastic while tightening certification rules for compostable claims. As of 29 April 2026, the bill has passed Assembly Natural Resources and is on the Assembly Appropriations Committee suspense file, so it remains active but may still change before any final vote. This would force brands selling into California to rethink compostable packaging strategies, likely pivoting away from plastic-based materials toward fibre-only or other non-plastic options aligned with local composting infrastructure and organics markets.

6 May 2026, 14:25leginfo.legislature.ca.govUnited States

US Class Actions Challenge Keurig "Recyclable" K-Cup Labelling

Consumers in California and New York have filed new class actions alleging Keurig’s “recyclable” K-Cup labelling is deceptive because most recyclers do not accept the pods, building on a 2023 settlement and a 2024 SEC penalty over related recyclability claims. This combination of private litigation and securities enforcement raises the bar for how brands substantiate recyclable and other environmental claims on packaging and in ESG disclosures, pushing closer alignment with real-world recycling infrastructure and guidance.

6 May 2026, 14:21classaction.orgUnited States

UK NCP Accepts Complaint on Virgin Atlantic Environmental Claims for Further Examination

In May 2026 the UK National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines accepted elements of a complaint alleging that Virgin Atlantic’s environmental and net-zero marketing claims are misleading, and opened a mediation and further-examination process under the Guidelines’ environment and consumer-interest chapters. This signals intensifying scrutiny of corporate green claims in aviation and other sectors, underscoring the need for robust, verifiable and well-contextualised climate communications that align with both OECD expectations and domestic consumer-protection regimes.

6 May 2026, 07:52gov.ukUnited Kingdom

Netherlands Supreme Court Advocate General Issues Opinion on Green Marketing of Old HP Printer Cartridges

In April 2026 the Advocate General at the Dutch Supreme Court issued a non-binding opinion in HP v Digital Revolution on selling very old HP printer cartridges without boxes as “milieuproduct” at new prices. If followed by the Court, this will confine trademark-based challenges to such resale but confirm that resellers must transparently disclose product age when using environmental or “return” marketing claims in the Dutch market.

4 May 2026, 20:06uitspraken.rechtspraak.nlNetherlands

California Assembly Appropriations Committee Sets First Hearing for AB 2253 and Places It on Suspense File

California’s AB-2253, a bill to tighten environmental marketing rules for products under the state solid waste law, has been set for its first hearing and placed on the Assembly Appropriations Committee suspense file as of 22 April 2026. This procedural move confirms the bill’s fiscal implications but keeps it active, so companies making environmental or “green” claims in California should watch for further committee action that could crystallise new documentation and substantiation duties.

3 May 2026, 14:48leginfo.legislature.ca.govUnited States

California SB 343 and SB 54: Upcoming Recyclability Labelling and Packaging EPR Requirements

California’s SB 343 and SB 54 will sharply tighten recyclability labelling and introduce a mandatory packaging extended producer responsibility regime from October 2026 and January 2027, imposing strict criteria for when products can be marketed as recyclable and when producers may sell covered packaging in the state. These shifts will force brands and packaging suppliers to redesign materials, reassess PFAS use, overhaul “recyclable” claims, and join funded producer responsibility organisations, increasing compliance costs and litigation risk as California diverges from federal and other state rules.

1 May 2026, 17:25leginfo.legislature.ca.govUnited States

European Parliament Written Question on Blue Flag Programme Under Directive (EU) 2024/825

An MEP has submitted a priority written question asking how Article 7 of Directive (EU) 2024/825 on generic environmental claims applies to established eco-label and environmental recognition programmes such as the Blue Flag scheme. This signals potential scrutiny of how new EU green-claims rules may affect the use of third-party environmental recognition labels in marketing and governance, although obligations remain unchanged until the Commission issues an interpretation.

30 Apr 2026, 08:59europarl.europa.euEuropean Union

Netherlands House Adopts Implementing Act for Directive (EU) 2024/825 on Consumer Green Claims (36873)

In April 2026 the Dutch House of Representatives adopted an implementing act amending the Civil Code to transpose EU Directive 2024/825 on empowering consumers for the green transition. Once fully enacted and in force, this will tighten Dutch rules on sustainability-related consumer information and unfair commercial practices, raising compliance expectations for green claims across consumer markets.

27 Apr 2026, 18:39tweedekamer.nlNetherlandsEuropean Union

US: Proposed PACK Act and State-Level PFAS and Polystyrene Packaging Restrictions

US packaging regulation is tightening as Congress considers the PACK Act to set national standards for green packaging claims while New York and Virginia implement bans on PFAS-containing food packaging and expanded polystyrene foam that fully bite by 2026. Companies selling into the US market need to accelerate shifts to PFAS-free, foam-free packaging and rigorously substantiated recyclability and compostability claims to avoid non-compliance, greenwashing risk, and disruption to packaging supply chains.

24 Apr 2026, 09:25dec.ny.govUnited States

EU Council Publishes Statement of Reasons for Position (EU) No 2/2026 on Accounting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Transport Services

The EU Council has published in the Official Journal its statement of reasons for Position (EU) No 2/2026 at first reading on the Regulation governing greenhouse gas emissions accounting of transport services, formalising the political justification for its agreed text. This adds interpretative context but no new obligations, helping transport operators and large buyers anticipate how the forthcoming EU-wide GHG accounting standard for transport services is likely to be applied once the Regulation is finally adopted and implemented.

22 Apr 2026, 19:58eur-lex.europa.euEuropean Union

US Law Firm Highlights PFAS, ESG, and CPSC Reporting Risks for Consumer Products Companies

An April 2026 K&L Gates analysis warns that expanding state consumer-protection laws, PFAS-related contamination claims, ESG litigation, and CPSC Section 15 enforcement are creating significant operational and legal risk for US consumer-products companies. Companies should respond by building integrated 50-state regulatory-intelligence and claims-substantiation systems that map PFAS and microplastics in supply chains, tighten “Made in USA” and sustainability claims, and ensure early escalation of safety information to comply with CPSC reporting obligations.

21 Apr 2026, 13:25natlawreview.comUnited States