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ethy’s Sustainability Standards for Brands Framework Revision 01/11/2022-01/03/2023

Summary of the revisions, new standards and guidance for ethy verified brands.
Summary of the revisions, new standards and guidance for ethy verified brands.

Framework Revision 01/11/2022-01/03/2023

The Framework Revision 01/11/2022-01/03/2023 expands the relevance of the ethy Sustainability Standards to incorporate travel, events and experiences industries. Several new standards and ecolabels have been introduced providing all brands with more options for sustainable development. Furthermore, all of the existing standards, criteria and required proof were reviewed externally to ensure compliance with the UK’s Green Claims Code regulations.

These standards apply on a brand level, providing a holistic sustainability profile for the brand, rather than individual products. Therefore, some of the changes to names of standards and ecolabels now include the word ‘Range’ to indicate a selection of products, rather than provide an absolute statement.

The ethy’s Standards and ecolabels are consumer-friendly, with consumer engagement at the heart of it. Therefore, some of the names and icons of ecolabels were also revised to ensure clarity, consistency and maximise the impact of a sustainability claim, such as Fights Plastic Waste.


Guidance for ethy Verified Brands

If your brand is currently verified by ethy, please review the upcoming changes to existing standards as well as opportunities to apply for the new certifications.


Step 1: Look for what’s changing

Take note of discontinuation dates to plan your communications activities, if your brand has been verified with the following ecolabels:

On the release of a new standard, ethy will notify customers. Please review those and decide if you want to apply for the new standard where possible.

If you would like to apply for any new and published standards now, prior to your next reassessment date, please email support@ethy.co.uk with your request.


Step 2: Check your brand still meets all standards

Some standard revisions include further detailing or clarification of criteria or required proof. If the revision has impacted your brand’s ability to meet a specific standard, or you are unsure, please notify ethy immediately. It is important for all brands to ensure that the brand continues to meet the verification criteria and the Green Claims Code during the verification period.

This applies to the following standards:

Revised criteria now include a clarification: This does not apply to businesses run from home.

Updates made to the existing standard include further detail and clarity within the criteria and define the required proof more clearly.

Criteria clarified to include: “Activities such as planting trees to offset produced emissions or donating to a charity are not applicable.”

Step 3: Check if & when you need to start using new assets for your existing ecolabels

The following standards will have new ecolabels released, which must be used moving forward instead of the old ecolabels:

ethy verified brands will be able to download all the new assets and certification from the ethy dashboard under the ‘Communications Toolkit’ tab shortly after the release date.

The ecolabels will change automatically on the public ethy website and apps on brands' sustainability profiles, as well as in any ethy widgets that the brand is using.

Step 4: Look for new opportunities

Many of the new standards introduced in this revision expand the relevance to travel, events and experiences industries. However, several new standards and ecolabels have been introduced providing all types of brands with more options for sustainable development and to show consumers the good you’re doing.

Following are all new or expanded standards we recommend exploring:

On the release of a new standard that is not live yet, ethy will notify all Clients. We will explain more about each standard. Please review those and decide if you want to apply for the new standard where possible.

If you would like to apply for any new and published standards now, prior to your next reassessment date, please email support@ethy.co.uk with your request.


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