The ECGT Directive: What it Means for Manufacturers

In 2024, the EU Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (ECGT Directive) was published. This Directive restricts the use of ‘environmental marketing terms’ without ‘verifiable’ evidence, effective from September 2026. In this article, we reflect on the potential impact of this new Directive on manufacturers in the built environment, considering how we can work collectively to ensure greater transparency and honesty within the industry.

While the ECGT Directive applies to the EU, its relevance is likely to reach beyond European borders, particularly for manufacturers supplying EU clients, working with European partners or marketing products internationally. EU legislation still shapes expectations for transparency and integrity, and it’s essential that we work collaboratively with our European counterparts to inject honesty in everything we market.

What does this new Directive mean for manufacturers?

After September 27th, 2026, manufacturers who display any of the flagged terms on their ‘product description, homepage banner, packaging text, or marketing emails,’ without credible evidence could be signing themselves up for a hefty fine.

Among these words are commonly used corporate marketing terms, such as ‘eco-friendly’, ‘sustainable’, ‘green’ and ‘carbon neutral’ – terms that have often been used liberally in the past. With this Directive, such claims will now face much closer scrutiny. In practice, this means a manufacturer should not describe a product as ‘sustainable’ or ‘eco-friendly’ unless they can clearly evidence what makes it so, whether through verified lifecycle data, recognised certification or substantiated product information. The intention is to establish stricter guidelines for sustainable marketing, requiring businesses to provide evidence that supports their environmental claims. Those who fail to comply risk both significant reputational damage and substantial fines, which can reach up to 4% of an organisation’s annual turnover in relevant member states.

Other practices that will be more closely monitored under the ECGT Directive include:

• The creation of ecolabels – companies should only use ‘eco-labels’ if they are from a recognised certification scheme, so ‘self-created certification schemes’ will be banned effective September 2026
• Carbon Offsetting & neutrality claims – any declarations about carbon offsetting or neutrality (either past, present, or future) should be evidenced through credible sources or statistics.
• Setting future plans – claims about any future environmental goals should be met with detailed and realistic implementation such as measurable targets, and regularly updated.

Tackling greenwashing

Greenwashing is not a new concept. Coined in the 1980s, the term refers to the act of a brand or business making ‘misleading or unsubstantiated claims’ about how ‘environmentally friendly’ their products really are, usually under the guise of seeming more ethical to enhance their reputation among clients.

In simple terms, greenwashing is the opposite of honest and sustainable marketing. It can tarnish a brand’s integrity, suggesting that sales have been prioritised over genuinely ethical practices and a meaningful contribution to a healthier workplace and planet.

The ECGT Directive aims to tackle the greenwashing problem by introducing stringent rules around how brands use sustainability claims in their marketing. This will, in turn, make it harder for manufacturers to make false or unsupported claims about their products, placing greater emphasis on integrity over commercial gain.

“Empowering consumers for the green transition means giving European citizens the tools to make informed choices and preventing practices such as greenwashing and early obsolescence from being used in the single market”

– Vera Jourova, Vice-President for Values and Transparency

The next steps for manufacturers

For manufacturers on Bimstore, it is important to acknowledge this new Directive, particularly if you have an EU audience. However, even for manufacturers who only supply to the UK, Australia or other parts of the world, practising openness and honesty remains vitally important. This should be viewed as an opportunity to reflect on your brand’s sustainability marketing, and to set clear, achievable climate targets.

For manufacturers marketing products on Bimstore, across Europe or within wider international markets, key ways to prepare include:

• Making sure that any ‘eco-language’ being used for marketing (whether that be on packaging, social media, banners, etc.) is supported by substantiated evidence
• Enhancing transparency in environmental reporting by providing honest statistics, and establishing goals for the future (with a verified implementation plan of how these goals will be achieved)
• Ensuring that all colleagues and clients of the company are clear on these goals, and are aware of the new EU Directive, especially when marketing to European audiences

In conclusion, there are several ways that manufacturers can make subtle but meaningful changes to support compliance with the ECGT Directive, reduce the risk of damage to brand trust, and bring greater clarity to their sustainability claims through more ethical marketing practices.

“Thanks to these new rules, consumers will now receive answers to questions such as ‘Is the product I want to buy really sustainable?’ – It is excellent news for every consumer to participate in the green transition”

– Didier Reynders, Commissioner for Justice

At Bimstore, we support this way of thinking, encouraging manufacturers to add EPDs to their product libraries and provide all the supporting data for user discretion. We trust manufacturers on the platform to comply with this new EU Directive and welcome the EU’s decision to put this legislation in place, encouraging a greenwashing-free built environment.

The full ECGT Directive can be found here.