EmpCo: what you can and cannot claim about your product's footprint

This article is general information and not legal advice. If you have doubts about a specific message, check it with your legal adviser.

Many companies are reviewing their environmental communication because of greenwashing risk. Until Spain transposes EmpCo, what is enforceable is unfair-competition law. The practical question is always the same: what can I still say about my product?

What changes when Spain transposes EmpCo?

Directive (EU) 2024/825 amends the rules on unfair commercial practices towards consumers. It is a directive, not a regulation: its new rules are not enforceable against a company until there is national law. Spain’s deadline to transpose it has passed and the national rule is still being processed; the Commission has opened proceedings against several Member States, including Spain. Until Spain transposes it, what is already enforceable is existing unfair-competition and misleading-advertising law, which already sanctions generic greenwashing. The detail is in EmpCo and Green Claims.

Which messages no longer work?

• Generic claims, such as “eco-friendly” or “environmentally friendly”, unless recognised excellent environmental performance is shown or the benefit is specified in the same message.
• Neutral, reduced or positive emissions impact based on offsetting. They can only rest on the product’s real life-cycle impact.
• Sustainability labels that are not based on a certification scheme or established by a public authority.
• Claims about the future without a clear, objective, public and verifiable implementation plan.

What can you communicate?

A specific figure about the product’s life cycle. A carbon footprint calculated to a recognised standard is the kind of information that can support a concrete claim, as long as it is truthful and not misleading. Compare these two sentences:

• “Sustainable product, friendly to the planet.” Generic, with no proof: the kind of message the Directive puts in the spotlight.
• “Carbon footprint of this product: X kgCO₂e per unit, cradle to gate, calculated to ISO 14067.” Concrete, with boundary and standard, and verifiable.

A figure like that is only worth something if there is a calculation behind it that you can explain. That is why the method should be recognised and the result should carry its verification identifier. Xain’s methodology follows ISO 14067 and is verified by LRQA.

And offsetting?

Offsetting emissions can be a legitimate company decision, but it can no longer be used to say the product is neutral. If you offset, communicate it as a company action and not as a property of the product. Xain does not present offsetting as a way to reduce or neutralise the footprint.

What about the Green Claims Directive?

It is a 2023 Commission proposal on substantiating explicit environmental claims. It has not been adopted. The Commission announced on 20 June 2025 its intention to withdraw it, its passage is blocked and it has no date of application. Do not confuse it with EmpCo, which does apply.

How to review your communication

1. List the environmental phrases on your website, data sheets and packaging.
2. Mark the generic ones and the ones based on offsetting.
3. Replace each with a concrete product figure, with its unit, boundary and standard.
4. Keep the calculation and certificate behind every figure.

If you need that figure for your product, see product carbon footprint.

Checklist for a defensible environmental message

• It refers to a specific product, not the company in general.
• It carries a value with its unit (for example, kgCO₂e per unit).
• It states the calculation boundary (cradle to gate, for example).
• It names the standard the calculation followed.
• The calculation or certificate behind it can be shown.
• It does not present offsetting as a property of the product.

What should your team keep on file?

Reviewing a message does not end when you publish it. If someone challenges it, you need to be able to answer quickly:

1. The calculation or certificate and its registration number.
2. The date it was calculated and the product version it applies to.
3. The relevant assumptions and any primary data.
4. Who reviewed the wording of the message.

How does Xain help?

Xain does not certify marketing messages and does not replace your legal advisers. What it provides is the data foundation: a product footprint calculation under ISO 14067, with the methodology verified by LRQA, and a certificate with a unique registration number and traceability down to the factor of each node. With that figure you can replace a generic sentence with a specific one, and you know where each number comes from.

A certificate does not by itself make a message compliant: the wording remains your responsibility. But having the data behind it is the difference between being able to defend a claim and not. If you want to review your messages with a product figure, talk to us.