The EmpCo Check: AI Audit Tool for Your Green Claims​

Identify critical environmental claims before Directive (EU) 2024/825 takes effect. Our tool analyzes your website and provides a well-founded initial assessment of your regulatory risks. Free for established companies and brands.

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No instant spam. To ensure high quality, we manually verify every valid domain before sending the report.

Starting in September 2026: The End of Generic Green Claims

EU Directive 2024/825 (EmpCo) fundamentally changes the rules of the game for B2C communication. It does not regulate your sustainability strategy, but rather what you are allowed to claim to customers. Violations can result in fines of up to 4% of annual revenue. The problem is that most environmental claims on websites were written before this strict legal framework came into effect.

4 Risk Areas Our AI Audit Checks on Your Site

General Environmental Statements

The risk: Terms such as “plastic-free,” “recyclable,” “green,” or “environmentally friendly” will be banned starting in 2026 if they are not accompanied by directly accessible, verifiable evidence. A vague label stating “made from recycled material” without specifying exactly which standard was used and who verified it will no longer be sufficient.

Misleading Waste Offset (“Plastic Neutrality”)

The risk: Advertising a product as “plastic-neutral” or “waste-offset” may result in a cease-and-desist letter if the messaging suggests to consumers that the product itself does not generate any waste. Offsetting must not be disguised as a “zero-impact” feature of the product—it must be transparently declared as a financial contribution (contribution claim).

Unsubstantiated “Plastic-Free” & Circular Economy Goals

The risk: Future commitments such as “plastic-free packaging by 2030” or “fully circular by 2028” are illegal without a detailed, publicly available implementation plan. You need a roadmap with time-bound milestones and independent third-party verification.

Proprietary sustainability labels

The risk: Custom-designed badges such as “Ocean Friendly,” “Plastic Saver,” or in-house sustainability seals that are not awarded and monitored by an official, transparent, and independent certification system are expressly prohibited under EmpCo.

3 Steps to a Well-Informed Initial EmpCo Assessment

1. Enter your domain and email address

Enter the URL where you communicate your environmental and sustainability claims.

2. AI Audit & Filter

We review the request manually. Our tool then scans your live content for critical terms.

3. Receive the Risk Report

You will receive a detailed PDF audit report featuring a traffic-light system for a quick risk assessment of your claims. Access to the tool is also available upon request.

The EmpCo-compliant alternative: everwave Plastic Credits

The new guideline rewards precision and penalizes vague claims. The legally sound approach for your marketing is to use what are known as “contribution claims.” With everwave, you communicate measurable impact instead of empty phrases.

  • Certified Impact: For every euro, we verifiably remove 1 kg of waste from the environment. Externally audited and transparently traceable.

  • Authentic marketing materials: You’ll receive high-resolution photos and videos from our global cleanups to use in your campaigns—the strongest evidence for your customers.

  • Reliable Communication: Transform risky “climate-neutral” claims into transparent impact statements that meet the strict EmpCo guidelines.

Why we built this tool.

Here at everwave, we collect plastic waste from rivers around the world every day. With our waste collection boats and AI-powered sorting systems, we make a real, measurable impact, and every kilogram collected is externally certified.

In our daily work, we encounter a paradox: Many companies are doing fantastic work in environmental protection, but due to the new EU directive (EmpCo), starting in September 2026, they will no longer be allowed to advertise themselves as “climate-neutral” in the same bold way as before. The law will prohibit cheap CO2 offsetting in the future, but will instead reward genuine, verifiable contributions—so-called “contribution claims.”

That’s exactly why we’re providing this audit tool. We want to show companies where their current communication is taking risks and help you master the shift from vague claims to verifiable environmental protection. So that you don’t have to hide your commitment, but can continue to communicate it effectively and convincingly.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

The audit is completely free for established companies and brands. We manually screen requests to ensure high quality.

No. We manually review and screen every incoming request. There are two reasons for this: First, this protects our system from spam and automated bulk queries. Second, we ensure that companies receive reports exclusively for their own domains and that the tool isn’t misused for competitive analysis. This quality filter allows us to allocate computing resources specifically to serious inquiries and deliver a truly high-quality audit to you.

No. Our AI audit provides a well-founded initial assessment and identifies critical patterns based on Directive (EU) 2024/825. For final legal assurance, we recommend consulting your legal counsel.

We use your data solely to generate the report, send it to you, and, if necessary, discuss viable solutions (such as Plastic Credits) with you.

Our system is specifically trained to identify the four main risk areas outlined in the EmpCo guidelines: Vague, general environmental claims (such as “sustainable” or “green” without direct evidence), product climate neutrality based on offsetting, unsubstantiated net-zero projections, and uncertified proprietary labels.

The EmpCo Directive is currently being transposed into national law (in Germany via the UWG—the Unfair Competition Act). This means that, as of the effective date, vague green claims will open the floodgates to costly cease-and-desist letters from competitors and consumer protection organizations. In addition, systematic violations may result in administrative fines, which can be set at up to 4% of annual turnover throughout the EU.

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