Novelist Gustave Flaubert once wrote that language is “like a cracked kettle on which we tap crude rhythms, while we long to make music that will melt the stars”. It’s a line about how easily words can fall short – how the things we say don’t always measure up to what we mean.
In the packaging and print industry today, the problem isn’t just that sustainability language falls short. Too often, it doesn’t mean anything at all.
Over the past decade, we’ve seen a flood of print and packaging claims designed to signal environmental responsibility. Some are credible and science-based, but too many are vague, inflated, distorted or simply untrue. Planet-friendly, green, eco. The labels say plenty, but rarely show the full picture, and the result is that consumer trust has been steadily eroding. We all know it as the term greenwashing, and regulators are stepping in.
The crackdown is here
The UK’s Green Claims Code and the EU’s proposed Green Claims Directive mark a decisive shift in how environmental communication is regulated. These aren’t PR guidelines, they’re binding expectations – and increasingly – enforcement frameworks.
Both initiatives demand the same direction of travel: sustainability claims must be grounded in truth, backed by evidence, and presented clearly. The UK Green Claims Code outlines six key principles that claims must meet, while the EU’s Directive goes further, mandating third-party verification, life cycle consideration, and tighter control of environmental labelling. In both cases, broad-brush terms like ‘sustainable’ or ‘carbon neutral’ must be properly defined – or avoided altogether. In short: no data, no claim.
What this means for print and packaging
For the print and packaging sectors, this poses a particularly complex challenge. Labels, materials, substrates and processes are technical by nature. Sustainability is often delivered in incremental improvements, not sweeping breakthroughs. But the way we communicate those efforts must now rise to the same standard.
If a substrate is recyclable, we need to clarify: under what conditions? In which markets? If a fibre tray is compostable, does that mean at home, or only in industrial settings? If a brand claims carbon reduction, is that operational, upstream, or offset?
As marketers and content strategists working with packaging and print specialists, we see unclear language needing de-risking daily. Too often, product data is strong, but the communication is weak – or worse, misleading by omission. A good sustainability claim must now work like packaging itself: functional, well-constructed, and designed for the real-world.
We see it all the time at Think B2B Marketing. Phrases like “100% sustainable,” “eco-friendly” or “low carbon” dropped into product descriptions or pack copy without context, evidence, or caveat. Often, they’re inherited from supplier materials or legacy marketing. But in today’s regulatory climate, that kind of shorthand is risky.
Under the proposed EU Green Claims Directive, companies that can’t substantiate their claims could face fines of up to 4% of annual turnover per breach. Under the UK’s Green Claims Code, that rises to up to 10%. And this isn’t theoretical – Coca-Cola, despite its world-class marketing budget, has already been forced to revise its “100% recyclable” and “100% recycled” packaging language following a greenwashing complaint. If they can get caught out, so can anyone. The risk is especially acute for lean teams – SMEs where the MD is also doing the marketing, or busy commercial leads without dedicated in-house sustainability expertise. That’s when the gap between intention and execution opens up dramatically, and where credible support can make all the difference.
Rethink your claim chain
The best, most robust sustainability claims today are often coming from integrated systems. Businesses who are getting this right are investing in evidence early: LCAs, verified supply chain data, and third-party certifications. They’re partnering across departments, bringing together compliance, design, marketing, and operations to ensure everyone is working from the same facts.
And crucially, they’re building internal sign-off processes that treat claims like any other regulated information; subject to legal scrutiny, not spin.
For packaging converters, printers, and suppliers, this creates an incredible opportunity. Those who can provide transparent data on recyclability, material content, environmental impact and more, aren’t just selling a printed product anymore, they’re enabling their customers to speak credibly in a highly scrutinised space. That’s not an add-on, that’s competitive advantage.
Green claims are everyone’s business now
At Think B2B Marketing, we work with entire print and packaging supply chains in multiple geographic markets. We help businesses communicate matters of sustainability clearly, strategically, and with confidence. The significance of what we do is laid bare when you consider how Green Claims Directive doesn’t just affect what’s printed on a product. It governs brochures, websites, digital ads, sales decks, product descriptions. Every touchpoint is subject to the same standards, which means the whole communications chain needs upskilling – not just legal and compliance.
This is a shared challenge, and it should be seen as a shared opportunity. Clearer claims build trust and verified data builds defensibility. And businesses that take language seriously, who say what they mean, and prove it, will find themselves ahead of the curve.
The truth is that not every pack or printed product is as ‘green’ as the press release claims, but the industry is certainly moving in the right direction. If we can align our sustainability words with our actions, and our messaging with our materials, then maybe we’ll finally stop playing cracked kettles – and start making real music.
