Biodegradable
Without stated conditions the word means nothing: EN 13432 covers industrial composting only, and it is a test standard rather than permission to use the term. France already bans it on products and packaging, and unqualified EU claims become a per-se unfair practice from 27 September 2026.
Meaning by context
EN 13432 governs industrial compostability: disintegration and biodegradation under controlled elevated-temperature conditions, within defined time limits. Home compostability, soil biodegradation and marine biodegradation are separate standards with separate certificates.
The Green Guides advise that an unqualified degradable claim should be substantiated by evidence the item will completely decompose within one year after customary disposal.
Used without naming the conditions, which is what makes it meaningless.
Where this goes wrong
The US treats an unqualified degradable claim as deceptive outright (16 CFR 260.8(c)). The EU arrives at the same place by a different route: EN 13432 is a test standard, not a claims rule — it tells you the conditions, it never authorises the word. The claims rule is the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. From 27 September 2026, new Annex I point 4a of Directive 2005/29/EC (inserted by the ECGT Directive (EU) 2024/825, whose recital 9 names ‘biodegradable’ as a generic environmental claim) makes an unqualified claim a per-se unfair practice unless the trader can demonstrate recognised excellent environmental performance relevant to the claim — and recital 10 states that the EU Ecolabel route will not supply that for ‘biodegradable’ where the applicable criteria contain no biodegradability requirement. Before that date it remains assessable case-by-case as misleading under UCPD Articles 6 and 7, and France already bans the word outright on products and packaging (Code de l’environnement art. L541-9-1).