Eco Xax — Environmental labels and eco claims on | ecoxax.com
A five-step routine that classifies almost any green claim in about two minutes, using nothing but the pack and a phone.
Step one: find the standard code. A verifiable claim names its scheme — ISO 14024 for Type I labels, EN 13432 for compostable packaging, OEKO-TEX Standard 100 for tested textiles. The typical failure at this step is silence: no standard named anywhere on the pack.
Step two: identify the verifier. Ask who checked the claim. If the answer is the manufacturer itself, you are looking at a Type II self-declared claim under ISO 14021 — 'recyclable' and 'refillable' are the classic examples, and no third party audits them.
On narrow screens, swipe or scroll the plate sideways.
Step three: look the label up in a public register. The EU energy label makes this easiest: every label carries a QR code that opens the product's entry in the EPREL database. Other schemes keep public catalogues of certified products. The typical failure: the logo appears in no register at all.
Step four: test the wording against the 2026 ban list. Directive (EU) 2024/825 bans generic claims such as 'eco-friendly' and 'climate neutral' from 27 September 2026, and member states had to transpose it by 27 September 2025. If the claim is exactly the kind the Directive prohibits, that tells you how much weight it carries.
Step five: decide on the facts, not the ink. A Type I label like the EU Ecolabel — third-party audited since 1992 — survives all four steps. A self-declared claim with no standard, no verifier and no register entry does not. The Eco Labels Compared page shows who verifies each scheme, and the homepage condenses the whole routine into a single table.
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