Sustainable Sourcing for Shopify: Eco Claims You Can Prove

Sustainable sourcing for a Shopify store comes down to two jobs: ask suppliers questions they can answer with documents, and only make eco claims on your product pages that those documents prove. Since September 27, 2026, the national rules implementing the EU’s Directive (EU) 2024/825 on empowering consumers for the green transition apply, and they ban generic claims such as “eco-friendly” or “green” without proof of recognized excellent environmental performance, sustainability labels that are not based on a certification scheme or set by a public authority, and whole-product claims that only cover a part. If you sell to EU consumers, your product pages are in scope. This is general information, not legal advice.

Questions to ask suppliers

Ask for documents for each product:

1. What is it made of, and in what share? “70% recycled polyester, 30% virgin” is a fact you can print; “made with recycled materials” is not.
2. Which certificates cover it? Ask for the certificate itself, the scheme’s name, the certificate number and its expiry date, and check that it covers this product rather than only the factory or a different line.
3. Where is it made? Country and, where possible, the factory. You need the country of origin for customs anyway.
4. What about the packaging? Material, recycled share and whether it is recyclable where your customers live.
5. What audits has the factory had? Social and environmental audits, by whom and when.
6. Will you tell me when anything changes? A new material or factory can make an old claim wrong overnight.

If a supplier cannot answer in writing, leave their marketing claims off your page.

Keep evidence per product

Store the proof next to the product, so whoever edits the page later sees it. In Shopify, product metafields work well: a file reference metafield for the certificate, a text field for the certificate number and expiry date, and a short field for the exact claim it supports. Shopify’s metafields page, read on October 23, 2026, describes metafields as a way to save specialized information on products and other resources, shown in the admin and, if you choose, on the storefront. Set a reminder for each certificate’s expiry, and remove the claim if the certificate lapses.

Eco claims after September 2026

A law firm summary of the directive, Mayer Brown’s two-year review of October 27, 2026, lists the core rules for business-to-consumer marketing:

• Generic claims (“environmentally friendly”, “green”, “eco”) are prohibited unless the trader can show recognized excellent environmental performance relevant to the claim, meaning the EU Ecolabel, an EN ISO 14024 type I ecolabel scheme, or top performance under EU law.
• Sustainability labels must be based on a certification scheme or established by public authorities.
• Claims about a whole product or business are prohibited when they concern only one aspect, such as calling a product recycled when only its packaging is.
• Product-level “CO₂ offset” or neutrality claims are restricted unless based on the product’s actual lifecycle impact within its own value chain.
• Future pledges such as “net zero by 2030” need clear, public, verifiable commitments with an implementation plan checked by an independent expert.

The same review notes that a retailer who repeats a manufacturer’s claim on its own product page is treated as the trader making that claim.

Where to put it: in the product description and, for certificates, in a product metafield shown on the page. The wider picture of running a greener store is in sustainable Shopify store, and photos for those pages in product photography. Other operations guides are in the running a store hub.

Frequently asked questions

Can I call my products eco-friendly? In marketing to EU consumers, a generic claim such as “eco-friendly” is banned unless you can show recognized excellent environmental performance relevant to it. Replace it with the specific fact you can prove, such as the material, its recycled share or a certified label.

Do the EU rules apply to non-EU stores? The directive’s own wording covers business-to-consumer commercial practices toward EU consumers, so a store outside the EU that sells to them should treat its product pages as in scope. Check with a lawyer for your situation.

Which labels are allowed? Labels based on a certification scheme or established by public authorities. A label you designed yourself, or one with no independent scheme behind it, is the kind the directive prohibits.