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. From 27. September 2026, environmental and sustainability claims are strictly regulated.
Claims such as "compostable", "biodegradable", "environmentally friendly" or "CO₂-neutral" may only be used in 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-recognised certification body in Germany and Europe that confirms the guarantee "100 % compostable" with an official, verified certification mark. This type of certification alone fully meets the requirements of the new EmpCo Directive.
The EmpCo Directive makes the market more transparent – and protects consumers from greenwashing. For companies, however, it means: without certification, no environmental claims.
EU law to restrict greenwashing
With the entry into force of the new EU law to restrict greenwashing on 17. Januar 2024, the need for clearly recognisable warranty information and the introduction of a new label for guarantees that go beyond statutory warranties is prescribed.
The ZERKOM® sustainability seal in the form of a certification 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® provides a permanent and legally binding guarantee or warranty for product properties.
With the new directives, regulations and laws of recent years, a clear trend is emerging: plastic and greenwashing will be increasingly combated in future. Further, stricter laws will follow and pose an incalculable risk for affected companies and their operational as well as strategic planning.
Questionable sustainability seals or greenwashing can permanently damage a company's image, lead to loss of customers as well as financial losses and even legal consequences.
The ZERKOM® seal gives companies the opportunity to stand out from the competition with a genuine green sustainability seal and offers benefits for all stakeholders involved – from manufacturers and retailers to end consumers. This leads to positive media coverage, consumer approval and a positive image transfer from ZERKOM®'s uncompromisingly green sustainability seal to the respective company.
Consumers have security for the first time with a sustainability seal that legally bindingly guarantees product properties. As the only sustainability seal for 100% compostable products and packaging, ZERKOM® already complies with the new EU directives today and thus offers companies planning security for the coming years and laws.
The Green Dot and the Green Button are already well known. Now there is also the mark "100% Compostable", made possible by the Trade Mark Law Modernisation Act, which entered into force on 14. Januar 2020. This law created a new category of marks with the "certification mark". Signs can now be registered with which a mark owner assumes the guarantee for certain properties of the goods and services of other providers.
Unlike the origin function of an individual mark, the certification mark has a guarantee function. A certain neutrality of the certification mark owner is achieved by the fact that they may not themselves offer the goods and services for whose properties they assume the guarantee. Own quality seals, such as those used by some supermarket chains, cannot therefore be protected as certification marks. The certification mark owner must set out the exact rules for their mark in a statute.
Until now, even objective quality seals could only be protected as marks to a very limited extent. An individual mark is – put simply – the name of a product from a specific manufacturer. Quality seals, however, are applied to products from different manufacturers when they meet the required quality. They are therefore not marks in the conventional sense.
Even when individual quality seals were registered as marks, they could not legally be used as such and were therefore not recognised by the courts. The certification mark thus closes a protection gap in the registration of such seals.
The mark "100% Compostable" uses this new opportunity and offers companies and consumers security through a sustainability seal that legally bindingly guarantees product properties. As the only sustainability seal for 100% compostable products and packaging, ZERKOM® already complies with the new EU directives today and thus offers companies planning security for the coming years and laws.
