With the entry into force of the EU EmpCo Directive (Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition), the market for ecological product claims is changing fundamentally. As of September 27, 2026, environmental and sustainability claims are strictly regulated.
Claims such as "compostable," "biodegradable," "environmentally friendly," or "carbon neutral" may only be used in the future if they are substantiated by independent, verifiable evidence.
This creates new market requirements – and at the same time a high risk for companies that wish to continue advertising with ecological claims.
ZERKOM® is the only state-recognized certification body in Germany and Europe that confirms the "100% compostable" guarantee with an official, verified guarantee mark. Only this type of certification fully meets the requirements of the new EmpCo Directive.
The EmpCo Directive makes the market more transparent – and protects consumers from greenwashing. However, for companies, it means: No certification, no environmental claims.
EU Law restricting Greenwashing
With the entry into force of the new EU law restricting greenwashing on January 17, 2024, the necessity for clearly recognizable guarantee information and the introduction of a new label for guarantees extending beyond statutory warranties is mandated.
The ZERKOM® sustainability seal in the form of a guarantee mark is unique and closes the protection gap for quality seals. While conventional quality seals merely represent a snapshot at the time of testing, ZERKOM® offers a permanent and legally binding guarantee or warranty for product properties.
With the new guidelines, regulations, and laws of recent years, a clear trend is emerging: plastic and greenwashing will be fought increasingly intensively in the future. Further, stricter laws will follow, posing an incalculable risk for affected companies and their operational and strategic planning.
Questionable sustainability seals or greenwashing can permanently damage the image, lead to loss of customers as well as financial losses, and even legal consequences.
The ZERKOM® seal offers companies the opportunity to stand out from the competition with a genuine green sustainability seal and offers advantages for all actors involved – from the manufacturer to the reseller to the end consumer. This leads to positive reporting, approval from consumers, and a positive image transfer from ZERKOM®'s uncompromisingly green sustainability seal to the respective company.
For the first time, consumers have security with a sustainability seal that legally guarantees product properties. As the only sustainability seal for 100% compostable packaging or products, ZERKOM® already meets the new EU guidelines and thus offers companies planning security today for the coming years and laws.
The Green Dot and the Green Button are already known. Now there is also the "100% Compostable" brand, made possible by the Trademark Law Modernization Act, which came into force on January 14, 2020. This law created a new trademark category with the "guarantee mark". This allows signs to be registered with which a trademark owner assumes the guarantee for certain properties of the goods and services of other providers.
In contrast to the function of origin in the case of the individual mark, the guarantee mark has a guarantee function. A certain neutrality of the guarantee mark owner is achieved by the fact that they may not offer the goods and services for whose quality they bear the guarantee themselves. Own quality seals, such as those used by some supermarket chains, cannot therefore be protected as a guarantee mark. The exact rules for their mark must be laid down by the guarantee mark owner in a statute.
Until now, even objective quality seals could only be protected as a trademark to a very limited extent. An individual mark is – vividly expressed – the name of a product of a certain manufacturer. However, quality seals are affixed to products from different manufacturers if they meet the required quality. They are therefore not trademarks in the conventional sense.
Even if individual quality seals were registered as trademarks, they could legally not be used as such and were therefore not recognized by the courts. The guarantee mark thus closes a protection gap in the registration of such seals.
The "100% Compostable" mark uses this new possibility and offers companies and consumers security through a sustainability seal that legally guarantees product properties. As the only sustainability seal for 100% compostable packaging or products, ZERKOM® already meets the new EU guidelines and thus offers companies planning security today for the coming years and laws.
