'Eco-friendly' on a listing: the EU ban on vague green claims from 27 September 2026 and the US Green Guides

"Eco-friendly" on a listing is a generic environmental claim, and since 27 September 2026 the EU bans generic environmental claims, such as "environmentally friendly", "green", "ecological" and "biodegradable", unless the trader can show recognised excellent environmental performance or explains the claim's specifics clearly and prominently on the same medium (Directive (EU) 2024/825). In the US, the Federal Trade Commission's Green Guides (16 CFR 260) ask for environmental claims to be specific, true and backed by competent evidence. Amazon lists "eco-friendly" among the phrases not allowed in bullet points, and Walmart restricts "biodegradable" and "compostable", so the safe wording on any marketplace is a specific fact a buyer can check, such as "made with 50% recycled polyester".

What are the FTC Green Guides?

The FTC's Green Guides, 16 CFR 260, are the US Federal Trade Commission's guidance on environmental claims in marketing, and they apply to listings. The Green Guides ask for environmental claims to be specific, true and backed by competent evidence, and say broad unqualified claims of general environmental benefit are hard to substantiate and should be avoided or qualified.

Five habits follow from the Green Guides:

• Say which part. "Recyclable" about a bottle may be true of the bottle and not the pump.
• Do not overstate. A small benefit described as a large one misleads as surely as a false one.
• Say how much. "Made with 30% recycled plastic" is checkable; "made with recycled materials" is vague.
• Say where. "Compostable in industrial facilities" is different from "home compostable".
• Have the evidence before writing the claim, not after.

What does the EU green claims ban of 27 September 2026 cover?

Directive (EU) 2024/825 adds green claims to the EU's list of commercial practices banned in all circumstances. From 27 September 2026:

• Generic environmental claims are banned without demonstrated excellent environmental performance. Examples given include "environmentally friendly", "green", "ecological" and "biodegradable".
• Sustainability labels not based on a recognised certification scheme are banned.
• Claims about a whole product are banned when the benefit covers only one aspect of it.

A claim that would otherwise be generic is not treated as generic if its specifics are "clearly and prominently explained" on the same medium. "Recyclable packaging", with the packaging and the recycling scheme named, is therefore different from "eco-friendly".

The EU rules reach sellers outside the EU too, because a listing that reaches EU buyers is advertising in the EU, wherever the seller is based. France goes further with a national law, article L541-9-1 of its environment code, that bars "biodegradable" and "respectueux de l'environnement" (environmentally friendly) on products and packaging.

Which green words should a listing avoid without proof?

What do Amazon and Walmart allow in green claims?

Amazon and Walmart each restrict green words in listings, and the EU adds rules for biocidal products.

A marketplace that removes a listing for a barred green phrase does not check the seller's size, and the words that trigger removal, such as "eco-friendly", "biodegradable" and "non-toxic", are as common on small shops' listings as on large brands' listings.

What should a listing say instead of eco-friendly?

A specific, checkable fact does the work a vague green word cannot, and it usually answers the question an environmentally minded buyer is asking.

Each "say" line is a fact a seller can show with a label, a certificate or a specification. A seller who cannot show the fact should leave it out.

How should recycled, recyclable and refillable claims be written?

Recycled, recyclable and refillable are the most useful green claims on a listing, because each can be specific.

• Recycled content: say how much and of what. "Made with 50% recycled polyester" is a fact; "made with recycled materials" is vague.
• Recyclable: say which part, and be honest about where the part can be recycled. A pouch made of mixed materials may be technically recyclable but not accepted by most local collections.
• Refillable or reusable: say how. "Refill pouches sold separately" or "designed for years of daily use, with replaceable seals" gives a buyer something to hold the seller to.

How do green claims differ by product type?

The rule of specifics over slogans looks different for each kind of product:

• Clothing and textiles. Name the fibre and its certification: "certified organic cotton" only with the certificate, and "rayon made from bamboo" for rayon, never "bamboo" alone. Give recycled fibre content as a percentage.
• Cleaning products. Say what the ingredients are, not what they are not: "plant-based surfactants" rather than "chemical-free". "Non-toxic" and germ claims bring further rules, which the cleaning and household chemical rules cover.
• Beauty and personal care. Use "natural" only if the ingredient list supports it, and prefer named ingredients to the word. Describe refill systems plainly.
• Kitchen and home. Durability is the honest green claim for kitchen and home goods: "solid oak, oiled finish, can be sanded and re-oiled" says more than "sustainable".
• Packaging. Say what the packaging is made of and whether it is recyclable where the buyers live.
• Pest and germ products. Green words are barred for biocides in the EU, and safety words are barred for pesticides in the US; the insect repellent and pesticide rules cover both.

How should a listing show an environmental certification?

A certification the seller holds is the strongest green claim on a listing, because an independent body has checked it.

• Name the scheme and the standard, as the certificate does.
• Show the certification mark only as printed on the product, in its approved form.
• Keep the certificate on file, with its scope and expiry date.
• Claim no more than the certificate covers: an organic cotton certificate for the fabric does not make the whole garment, dyes and trims included, "organic".

In the EU, a sustainability label not based on a recognised certification scheme is banned outright.

Do icons and badges in listing images count as green claims?

Yes. Leaf icons, globes, "eco" badges and green ticks in a product image make an environmental claim without a word of text. In the EU, a sustainability label not based on a recognised certification scheme is banned. Use only the certification marks the product holds, as printed on the product, and keep decorative leaves away from anything that reads as a claim.

What does a rewritten eco listing look like?

A made-up listing for a bamboo-handled toothbrush, written the old way:

Eco-friendly, 100% biodegradable, sustainable bamboo toothbrush. Plastic-free and kind to the planet. Zero waste.

Checked against the rules:

• "Eco-friendly", "sustainable" and "kind to the planet" are generic. Out.
• "100% biodegradable" is untrue as stated, because the bristles are nylon, and "biodegradable" is restricted on Walmart and banned on products and packaging in France. Out.
• "Plastic-free" is untrue, because the bristles are plastic. Out.
• "Zero waste" is vague. Out.

Rewritten with facts:

Toothbrush with a bamboo handle and nylon bristles. Packaged in a recyclable cardboard box with no plastic.

The rewritten toothbrush listing is shorter, and every word can be shown. The handle material and the packaging tell an environmentally minded buyer what they want to know, without a claim the seller cannot back.

A green claims checklist

1. No generic claims: "eco-friendly", "green", "ecological", "sustainable".
2. Every environmental claim specific: which part, how much, under what conditions.
3. Evidence on file for each claim.
4. No "biodegradable" on Walmart without meeting its conditions, and none in France.
5. No barred phrases in Amazon bullets or A+ content.
6. No sustainability badges without the certification behind them.
7. The same claims on every marketplace, checked against the strictest.
8. Claims reviewed whenever materials, suppliers or packaging change.

How Commicorn helps

• Green claims marked before they reach your listing. The keyword step keeps out green words a marketplace bans in that part of the listing, such as "eco-friendly" in Amazon bullets, and marks a claim that needs proof with what the marketplace asks for.
• Words left out in France and Belgium. French listings leave out "biodégradable" and "respectueux de l'environnement".
• Your labels, as printed. On the Untouched product route the pixels of your photo are never redrawn, so only the certification marks on your product appear.

Commicorn marks green words that need proof. Start free.

Questions sellers ask

Can a listing say eco-friendly if the product really is better for the environment?

In the EU, only with recognised excellent environmental performance or with the specifics clearly and prominently explained on the same medium. In the US, the Green Guides advise a specific, qualified claim instead, and Amazon does not allow "eco-friendly" in bullet points.

When does the EU ban on generic green claims start?

The EU ban on generic environmental claims under Directive (EU) 2024/825 applies from 27 September 2026.

Can I repeat "biodegradable" from my supplier's packaging?

Not without checking it. Walmart restricts "biodegradable" claims, France bans the word on products and packaging, and the EU treats it as a generic claim. Ask the supplier for the evidence and the conditions under which the product breaks down.

Do the EU green claims rules apply to sellers in the US?

The EU rules apply to listings that reach EU buyers, wherever the seller is based. The Green Guides and the marketplaces' rules apply to listings in the US.

Is "recyclable" a safe green claim?

"Recyclable" is safer than a generic claim when it names which part is recyclable and is honest about where the part can be recycled, as the Green Guides ask.