In times of growing demand for sustainable products, "green claims", environmentally related product promises, are crucial.
However, these promises must not only be credible, but also comply with legal requirements in order to avoid the risks of greenwashing and legal consequences. This blog post uses a project with a leading DIY retailer to show how efficient compliance and quality assurance for green claims can be achieved through structured, technology-supported product data management.
Legal regulations against greenwashing
In May 2024, the European Union adopted new guidelines to prevent greenwashing and ensure green claims compliance. The aim of these provisions is to enable consumers to make informed purchasing decisions regarding the environmental impact, durability and reparability of products and thus contribute to more sustainable consumer behavior. Companies are now obliged to make their environmental claims clear and verifiable in order to increase consumer confidence and minimize legal risks. Member states, including Germany, have until March 27, 2026 to transpose this directive into national law and ensure that green claims are communicated in accordance with the law.
Avoiding greenwashing in the DIY range through data governance and product data management
Greenwashing - the misleading advertising of products as environmentally friendly - poses considerable reputational and legal risks for companies in e-commerce. The avoidance of greenwashing and the legally compliant design of green claims therefore requires a clearly structured approach to product data management and well thought-out data governance.
- Data quality and consistency: A reliable product data management system (PIM) ensures that all environmental claims are recorded centrally and managed consistently. Companies in the construction, building materials, DIY and tools sectors can thus ensure that green claims are accurate, up-to-date and based on correct data.
- Traceability and transparency: Targeted data governance allows the origin and proof of each green claim statement to be documented. This reduces the risk of misinformation and creates a reliable basis for customer communication.
- Risk minimization and compliance: Greenwashing in the product range can be effectively avoided with structured check routines and clear data guidelines. This enables companies to strengthen customer trust and establish a credible sustainability strategy.
Challenge in a specific project: complexity and abundance of data when checking green claims
With a wide range of products and numerous suppliers, many companies face the challenge of carefully checking all green claims and identifying potentially problematic terms that could harbor greenwashing risks. For our client, the task was to check over 51,000 articles for non-permitted terms and formulations resulting from a blacklist. This was to ensure that all environmental claims were accurate and compliant with applicable standards. A manual check on this scale would hardly be feasible - this is where a technology-supported solution comes in.
Project strategy: AI-supported analysis and structured revision
- Development of a customized AI analysis pipeline: A specialized AI pipeline was developed for the automated analysis and revision of the Green Claims, which examines the product catalog for problematic terms and formulations. This AI makes it possible to uncover both obvious and more subtle linguistic risks and adapt them in article titles, descriptions and bullet points. The risk of greenwashing in the product range for construction, building materials and tools was thus significantly reduced.
- Agile collaboration for rapid implementation: In order to manage the project efficiently, regular coordination meetings were held between quality management, master data management and the retailer's compliance team. These meetings ensured that obstacles were quickly identified and solutions were implemented in an agile manner, ensuring seamless progress.
- Daily updates and rapid implementation: During the intensive implementation week, the corrected data was provided daily in ready-made import files for the retailer's content management system (CMS). This meant that the corrections could be implemented directly without any delays in the sales process.
Project results: Compliance and efficiency through detailed analysis and measures
- Successful identification and revision of green claim risk texts: The revision of over 51,000 articles for unacceptable terms and wording enabled a significant reduction in legal risks and optimization of environmental product communication. The retailer was thus able to prevent the threat of warnings and significantly increase the transparency and reliability of its product range.
- Transparency at supplier and category level: A final analysis provided the retailer with a detailed overview of which suppliers and categories were particularly affected by the adjustments. This information enables him to approach suppliers in a targeted manner and take proactive measures to improve product communication.
- Recommendation for regular testing of new products: A significant added value of the project lies not only in the correction of existing items, but also in the realization that a regular review of new products is crucial to minimize compliance risks in the long term. The retailer was advised to repeat this process regularly for new products and thus establish a sustainable compliance strategy.
Conclusion: Efficient compliance as a competitive advantage in the DIY sector
This project illustrates how a well-structured and technology-supported approach to ensuring product quality and compliance can create a clear competitive advantage for retailers. The combination of AI-supported analysis, proactive coordination and detailed supplier analysis not only enabled the retailer to minimize risks quickly, but also to develop a long-term strategy for continuous quality improvement.
Recommendation for DIY retailers: The regular and preventive review of environmental claims (green claims) not only offers security against warnings, but is also a valuable investment in the consistency and transparency of the entire product range. This strengthens the trust of customers and suppliers alike and makes the compliance strategy a central component of the company's success.
Sources for further information
The following sources are particularly helpful for retailers and manufacturers who want to delve deeper into the topics of green claims, greenwashing avoidance and sustainable product communication:
- German Environment Agency (UBA) The German Environment Agency offers comprehensive information on environmental standards, sustainable consumption and legal regulations, such as the EU Greenwashing Directive. The UBA website contains studies, guidelines and recommendations for the correct labeling of environmentally friendly products and the avoidance of misleading advertising claims.
- Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv) The Federation of German Consumer Organizations provides information on consumer rights and greenwashing practices. The vzbv regularly publishes reports and positions on sustainable product promises, transparency requirements and the legal consequences of deception. The vzbv also provides materials and recommendations for action for companies.