For many years, environmental communication has been filled with terms such as eco-friendly, green, environmentally friendly and sustainable. Expressions that often conveyed positive intentions, but were not always supported by objective evidence.

Europe has decided to change the way sustainability is communicated.

Under the new European rules on environmental claims and commercial practices, companies will need to be far more rigorous when communicating the environmental characteristics of their products. General statements or inspirational messages will no longer be enough. Every environmental claim must be supported by verifiable information.

This is not about communicating less.

It is about communicating better.

This new framework represents an opportunity for paper bags, whose environmental performance can be supported by objective and verifiable facts. Trust will no longer be built on broad promises, but on evidence.

For paper bags, this distinction is particularly important.

Their raw material comes from a natural and renewable resource. The cellulose fibre used originates from responsibly managed forests. Paper is also one of the most widely recycled materials within European paper and board collection systems and plays an important role in the circular economy.

These are qualities that do not need to be exaggerated.

They simply need to be explained accurately.

In addition, the new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), together with legislation such as the European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), promotes greater transparency regarding the origin of materials and the environmental performance of packaging throughout its entire life cycle.

All of this marks a shift in which sustainability is no longer simply declared.

It becomes something that must be demonstrated.

For manufacturers, distributors and retailers, this also represents a new way of communicating with customers. Credibility will no longer depend on using stronger environmental language, but on providing clear, accurate and verifiable information.

Paper bags enter this new era from a position of strength. They do not need to promise more than they are. Their greatest asset lies in explaining, with complete transparency, their origin, their characteristics and their place within a circular economy.

Sustainability is no longer claimed.

It has to be proven.