From 27 September 2026, the provisions introduced by Legislative Decree No. 30 of 20 February 2026, transposing Directive (EU) 2024/825, known as the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (EmpCo) Directive, will become applicable in Italy. The legislation aims to strengthen consumer protection and combat greenwashing by introducing stricter rules for environmental claims about products and services.

The new provisions apply to all businesses operating in the B2C market and cover packaging, labels, websites, catalogues, advertising and, more generally, all forms of commercial communication directed at consumers.

What Is the Empowering Consumers Directive?

Directive (EU) 2024/825 is one of the tools the European Union uses to promote a transition towards more sustainable consumption patterns. Its aim is to ensure that consumers can make informed choices based on reliable, verifiable, and comparable environmental information, reducing the risk of misleading messages or claims that are not adequately supported by evidence.

The Directive introduces a broader definition of “green claims”, covering any message, symbol, image, label or statement that asserts or implies that a product, packaging, brand or company has a positive environmental impact, is less harmful than equivalent alternatives, or has improved its environmental performance over time.

The underlying principle is that environmental claims must be clear, specific, and unambiguous, and must be supported by adequate, verifiable evidence. It is not only the ability to substantiate a claim that matters, but also how it is communicated and perceived by consumers.

Stop to Generic Environmental Claims

One of the key changes concerns so-called generic environmental claims, meaning expressions that suggest general environmental superiority without providing specific, verifiable information. Terms such as “green”, “eco-friendly”, “sustainable”, “environmentally friendly” and similar wording can no longer be used as mere promotional slogans. The legislation restricts the use of generic environmental claims that are not accompanied by adequate evidence to substantiate their meaning and scope.

For businesses, it is therefore essential to use specific, measurable statements supported by documented evidence. For example, communications that describe a product’s or packaging’s environmental characteristics in concrete terms are more consistent with the new approach. These may include the presence of recycled materials, a quantified reduction in environmental impacts, or the recyclability of packaging within the available waste collection systems.

Stricter Controls on Environmental Labels and Symbols

The Directive also introduces new rules for sustainability labels and symbols used to communicate environmental benefits.

In particular, the display of sustainability labels that are not based on recognised certification schemes or established by public authorities is prohibited. The aim is to limit the proliferation of self-declared labels and symbols that may confuse consumers and undermine the comparability of environmental information.
Companies will therefore need to carefully verify the compliance of the sustainability labels, logos, and environmental symbols used in their communications.

Beware of Climate Claims

The legislation also introduces provisions to ensure greater transparency and accuracy in claims relating to greenhouse gas emissions. The Directive restricts the use of statements such as “carbon neutral”, “climate neutral”, “zero climate impact” and equivalent expressions when these results are achieved solely through greenhouse gas emission offsetting mechanisms.

No Exaggerating or Overstating Limited Environmental Benefits

The new provisions also address how environmental information is presented. It will no longer be possible to attribute environmental benefits to an entire product or package when they apply only to one component or a specific stage of its life cycle. Similarly, businesses will not be able to present compliance with existing legal requirements as a distinctive feature of their offering.

Implications for Businesses

The entry into application of the legislation requires companies to thoroughly review their environmental communications.

Packaging, etichette, campagne pubblicitarie, siti internet, cataloghi, materiali promozionali e contenuti digitali dovranno essere riesaminati per assicurare che i claim utilizzati siano chiari, specifici, verificabili e supportati da adeguata documentazione. Sarà inoltre necessario rafforzare il coordinamento tra funzioni marketing, sostenibilità, affari regolatori e compliance, al fine di garantire processi efficaci di validazione delle informazioni ambientali.

A Key Issue for the Packaging Industry

Per il settore degli imballaggi, le nuove regole si inseriscono in un quadro normativo europeo sempre più orientato alla trasparenza e all’affidabilità delle informazioni ambientali. La corretta comunicazione delle caratteristiche degli imballaggi rappresenta infatti uno strumento essenziale per supportare scelte consapevoli dei consumatori e valorizzare in modo credibile gli investimenti delle imprese nell’economia circolare.

The implementation of the EmpCo Directive marks an important step towards clearer, better-documented, and more comparable environmental communication, where the credibility of information becomes a key element in the relationship between businesses and consumers.

For further insights and information, please visit www.etichetta-conai.com.

Brief company description

MEBA BIORESINE SB Srl is founded on the union of MEBA SAS, a historic company active in the production of resin materials for the fashion and design world, and AXIAINVESTMENT Srl, an investment company in the form of a club deal established with the support of AXIA-NET, a firm specialized in engaging temporary managers.
The company is distinguished today by its production of certified bio-based materials and finished components, with a premium positioning oriented toward the premium and luxury segment, and increasingly focused on sustainability, transparency, and short supply chains. The path undertaken is guided by progressive vertical integration of the offering and continuous research and development activity, key elements to support the evolution of the market and reference brands.

How was Meba Bioresine SB Srl founded and what does it do?

MEBA SAS was founded as a family business, with a strong manufacturing vocation and specialization in the production of polyester resin sheets and rods primarily intended for the button industry. For decades we operated as an industrial partner for processors and manufacturers, building highly vertical technical expertise.

In recent years we have undertaken an important sustainability-oriented journey, developing—uniquely in Europe—a biopolymer derived from renewable sources and certified, designed for the fashion and design market, which has begun to demand solutions with these characteristics.
Today this experience represents the foundation on which we have built a broader evolution toward sustainable materials and finished products.

What were the motivations for which you decided to undertake the path of opening up equity?

The choice stems from a strategic need: to accelerate a transformation process already underway. The market today demands innovation, certified sustainability, and the ability to engage directly with brands. To address this phase requires resources, experience, and structure.

Opening up equity allowed us to combine entrepreneurial dimension with a more industrial and financial logic, while maintaining continuity in leadership and values. To grow and move beyond an exclusively family-based logic, the support of a new partner capable of bringing greater structure, organization, and the ability to plan significant multi-year investments was necessary.

Furthermore, in family businesses a difficulty can emerge in decision-making processes, related to the absence of a clearly recognized decision center: the entry of an external partner has contributed to making the process more defined, rapid, and effective.

What are the most difficult things to face before and after?

In the pre-phase, the main difficulty is cultural: accepting to question a model that has worked for years and translate it into a language understandable to external investors. It also means preparing employees for change and, no less important, accompanying the entire family in accepting a new phase after years of autonomous management.
In the post-phase, the challenge becomes execution: rapidly transforming plans into results, while managing greater complexity, reporting, and expectations. On a personal level, the way of working also changes significantly: one must relate to new figures within the structure and share steps and decisions that were previously made in complete autonomy.

An important aspect in equity opening operations is certainly that related to governance—how did you address it in your case?

We worked to build clear governance, with defined roles and a balance between entrepreneurial vision and managerial discipline.
The introduction of a structured board of directors and formal moments of discussion has improved the quality of decisions, without compromising operational flexibility.
The key was to see governance not as a constraint, but as a tool for growth and control. Operationally, one quickly realizes that sharing responsibilities represents an enormous driver: it allows distributing the weight of decisions, integrating different points of view, and reducing the risk that strategic choices depend exclusively on the intuition of the individual entrepreneur.

Strengths and weaknesses: what are the main differences between a financial partner and an industrial partner?

The financial partner brings method, discipline, and strong attention to value creation in the medium term. They are less operationally involved, but highly focused on numbers, processes, and scalability.
The industrial partner, instead, contributes operational expertise, market knowledge, and concrete synergies, but may have a vision more oriented toward their own business.
Beyond the differences, the most interesting aspect is the continuous exchange of expertise that is created: the entrepreneur brings market knowledge, intuition, and experience built over time; managers contribute method and tools, working to identify the most effective path to achieve objectives. It is precisely in this balance that value is generated.

From entrepreneur to entrepreneur: advice for approaching equity opening operations.

Arrive prepared and, above all, have a clear project in which to believe deeply—almost contagiously.
Not only in the numbers, but in the vision: knowing where you want to go, why, and being truly convinced of the objective. It is this conviction that allows aligning the right people along the path.
Opening up equity is not a finish line, but the beginning of a more complex and structured phase, which requires greater discipline and execution capacity, but which can prove extremely stimulating and exciting.

MEBA SAS was a family-run business with a history spanning over 60 years, built on passion, expertise, and innovation across four generations. Today, that story continues, with an even broader vision.

Where We Are Today

Since February, we have embarked on an important journey of transformation. A significant milestone was the entry of AXIAINVESTMENT Srl, an investment company established with the support of AXIA-NET, specialising in the engagement of interim managers.

This operation marks the birth of MEBA BIORESINE® Società Benefit. For us, this does not mean changing who we are, but strengthening the values we have always believed in: quality, innovation, sustainability, and care for people.
Our goal is to continue growing, offering our customers an increasingly personalised service and creating lasting value. Every change brings new challenges and opportunities. We have chosen to embrace them with the same enthusiasm and passion that have driven MEBA for over sixty years.

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