Which of your green claims would a regulator look at first?
Since the DMCC Act 2024 the CMA can fine businesses directly — up to 10% of global turnover — without going to court. Most hotel sustainability pages were written before anyone expected that. Paste yours and see what stands out.
Your “Sustainability”, “Our green promise” or “About us” page. This runs in your browser — nothing you paste is sent to us or stored anywhere.
Paste at least a full paragraph (40+ words) — plain marketing copy works best. There is no character limit, but a single short sentence won’t give a useful result.
What we check for
"carbon neutral", "carbon-neutral", "climate neutral"
A carbon-neutrality claim. Where it rests on offsetting rather than actual reductions, this is the single most-challenged green claim in Europe.
"eco-friendly", "eco friendly", "environmentally friendly"
A generic environmental claim with no stated basis. Regulators treat unqualified terms like this as inherently misleading, because a guest cannot tell what is being claimed.
"100% recyclable", "fully recyclable", "completely recyclable"
An absolute recyclability or disposal claim. These usually fail because the item is only recyclable where facilities exist, which for most UK councils they do not.
"greener", "more sustainable", "better for the environment"
A comparative claim with nothing to compare against. Better than what, measured how, over what period?
"certified sustainable", "certified green", "accredited eco"
Implies third-party certification. If no accredited body has assessed the property, this is the claim most likely to draw a complaint from a competitor who paid for theirs.
"chemical free", "chemical-free", "all natural"
"Chemical-free" is never literally true, and "natural" implies a safety or environmental benefit that does not follow.
"net zero by", "carbon neutral by", "zero waste by"
A future target. Legitimate, but only with a plan behind it — regulators have moved from tolerating pledges to asking what backs them.
"locally sourced", "local produce", "sourced locally"
"Local" with no radius or proportion. Commonly challenged when most of the menu turns out to be from national distributors.
Common questions
- Is this legal advice?
- No. It checks wording against the phrases UK regulators have been most active on, so you know where to look. Whether a particular claim is compliant depends on the evidence behind it and the context it appears in, which an automated check cannot see.
- What changed in 2024?
- The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 gave the CMA power to investigate and fine businesses directly, without going to court first, up to 10% of global turnover. Before that, enforcement was slow enough that most small businesses never considered it a real risk. That is what changed.
- Does the EU directive apply to a UK hotel?
- The ECGT Directive (EU) 2024/825 binds EU traders, not UK-only ones. It matters if you sell into the EU, list on EU-based OTAs, or belong to an EU-headquartered group — and it is a strong signal of where UK practice is heading, since it bans generic environmental claims and offsetting-based carbon-neutrality claims outright.
- Do you store what I paste?
- No. The check runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you paste is sent to us, logged, or stored anywhere.
- What actually fixes a flagged claim?
- Substantiation. Replace the adjective with a measured figure and keep the document that supports it — "31% less electricity per occupied room-night than our 2023 average" is defensible in a way "eco-friendly" can never be.