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Check your website for EmpCo risks with our free tool and identify critical environmental claims.
From September 2026, the EmpCo Directive will come into force across the EU, including Germany. Review your website for potentially problematic environmental claims before the new rules apply.
Our tool analyzes your website and provides a well-founded initial assessment of potential regulatory risks. It helps you identify environmental claims that may require further review under Directive (EU) 2024/825.
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No instant spam. To ensure high quality, we manually check every valid domain before sending the report.
That's how high fines can go for systematic EmpCo violations. On top of that, competitors and consumer protection organizations can issue cease-and-desist warnings.
The risk: From 2026, anyone advertising with terms like “plastic-free”, “recyclable”, “green”, or “environmentally friendly” must back these claims up with transparent, verifiable evidence. Generic statements such as “made from recycled material” will no longer be enough unless the underlying standard and the independent verification behind it are clearly stated.
The risk: Claims like “plastic neutral” or “waste compensated” are problematic when they lead consumers to believe the product itself leaves no waste behind. Compensation doesn’t replace a product’s actual environmental impact, so it must be clearly communicated as a financial contribution.
The risk: Announcements like “plastic-free packaging by 2030” or “fully circular by 2028” aren’t enough on their own. Without a transparent, publicly accessible action plan with concrete interim targets and independent third-party verification, such future promises can be unlawful.
The risk: In-house environmental or sustainability labels such as “Ocean Friendly”, “Plastic Saver”, or company-created seals may not be used under EmpCo unless they are part of a recognized, transparent, and independently controlled certification system.
EU Directive 2024/825 (EmpCo) sets new requirements for how companies communicate sustainability to consumers. The focus isn't a company's sustainability strategy itself, but how environmental and sustainability claims are communicated in marketing and advertising.
Unsubstantiated or misleading claims can now carry serious legal and financial consequences. Much of the content on company websites, in campaigns, and in product descriptions predates the new rules and should be reviewed.
Enter the URL where your company communicates environmental and sustainability claims.
We review your request manually. Our tool then scans your live copy for critical terms.
You receive a detailed PDF audit with a traffic-light system for quickly assessing claim risks. Tool access is also available on request.
After the check, you will receive your personal compliance report free of charge, including an initial assessment of your company’s environmental and sustainability communication.
The report gives you an overview of potentially critical claims, explains why they may be legally relevant and highlights where action may be needed. For every point identified, you receive a clear explanation and concrete recommendations for action.
This gives you a sound initial assessment, helps you identify potential risks early and enables you to adapt your communication to the new requirements of the EmpCo Directive and the Green Claims Directive.
Violations of the new requirements can have significant consequences. In most cases, the first response from the market is a cease-and-desist letter under unfair competition law. If a company fails to comply, preliminary injunctions and cease-and-desist actions may follow shortly thereafter.
A particularly significant risk lies in the potential financial penalties. In cases of serious cross-border infringements, fines of up to 4% of a company’s annual turnover may be imposed. In addition, direct claims for damages may arise under certain circumstances.
Enforcement will also become considerably easier for regulators and claimants. Certain prohibited practices are included on the Directive’s so-called “black list” and are therefore automatically deemed unfair commercial practices. As a result, courts no longer need to carry out a time-consuming case-by-case assessment, enabling authorities and competitors to take action against unlawful environmental claims more quickly and effectively.
The new directive rewards precision and penalizes vague claims. The legally compliant path for your marketing is what's known as Contribution Claims. With everwave, you communicate credible impact instead of empty phrases.
Certified impact: With every euro, we verifiably remove 1 kg of waste from the environment. Externally audited and transparently trackable.
Authentic marketing material: You get high-resolution image and video material from our cleanups around the world for your campaigns – the strongest proof for your customers.
Credible communication: Turn risky ”climate neutral” claims into transparent impact statements that hold up under strict EmpCo requirements.
At everwave, we remove plastic waste from rivers around the world every day. With our waste collection boats and AI-powered sorting facilities, we create real, measurable impact, with every kilogram collected independently verified.
In our day-to-day work, we encounter a paradox: many companies are doing remarkable work for the environment, yet from September 2026 onwards, the new EU Directive (EmpCo) will prevent them from promoting these efforts with broad claims such as “climate neutral” in the way they have in the past. While the legislation restricts low-quality carbon offsetting claims, it rewards genuine, verifiable environmental action through so-called Contribution Claims.
That is exactly why we created this audit tool. We want to help companies identify where their current sustainability communication may become risky and support them in shifting from vague environmental claims to evidence-based, verifiable impact communication.
Our goal is simple: you should not have to hide your environmental commitment. Instead, you should be able to communicate it confidently, credibly, and in a way that stands up to regulatory scrutiny.
No. We manually review every request. This protects the system from spam and automated mass requests, and ensures compliance reports are only created for a company's own website. It also prevents misuse, such as for competitor analysis, and lets us focus our resources on qualified requests — resulting in a high-quality, meaningful compliance report.
The compliance check is free for established companies and brands. To ensure high-quality results, we review all requests in advance and reserve the right to manually select participants.
Our system is built to detect the four core risk areas under the EmpCo Directive: vague environmental claims like "sustainable" or "green" without solid evidence, climate-neutral product claims based on offsetting, insufficiently substantiated net-zero future claims, and self-created sustainability labels without recognized certification.
No. Our AI audit provides a well-founded initial assessment and analyzes potentially critical patterns based on Directive (EU) 2024/825. It helps identify possible risks early and flag areas for action. For a final legal assessment and individual protection, we recommend a review by specialized legal counsel.
The EmpCo Directive is currently being transposed into national law — in Germany, through the Act Against Unfair Competition (UWG). For companies, this means that once it takes effect, unclear or insufficiently substantiated green claims can trigger significant legal risk. This includes costly cease-and-desist warnings from competitors or consumer protection organizations. For systematic violations, regulatory sanctions can also apply, reaching up to 4% of annual company revenue EU-wide.
We only use your data to create and deliver your report and, where relevant, to get in touch about suitable solutions, such as Plastic Credits.
