National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN ISO 14021:2026. It is identical to ISO 14021:2026. It supersedes BS EN ISO 14021:2016+A1:2021, which is withdrawn.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee SES/1/5, Environmental Management - Life cycle tools and techniques.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 31 July 2026.

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 22 June 2026.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN member.

This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and United Kingdom.

European foreword

This document (EN ISO 14021:2026) has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 207 "Environmental management" in collaboration with CCMC.

This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by January 2027, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by January 2027.

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

This document supersedes EN ISO 14021:2016, EN ISO 14021:2016/A1:2021.

Any feedback and questions on this document should be directed to the users’ national standards body/national committee. A complete listing of these bodies can be found on the CEN website.

According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United Kingdom.

Endorsement notice

The text of ISO 14021:2026 has been approved by CEN as EN ISO 14021:2026 without any modification.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of ISO document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).

ISO draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a) patent(s). ISO takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO had not received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at www.iso.org/patents. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO’s adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 207, Environmental management, Subcommittee SC 3, Environmental labelling, in collaboration with the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), in accordance with the Agreement on technical cooperation between ISO and CEN (Vienna Agreement).

This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition (ISO 14021:2016), which has been technically revised. It also incorporates the Amendment ISO 14021:2016/Amd 1:2021.

The main changes are as follows:

elements that are common to all the documents on environmental statements developed by ISO/TC 207/SC 3 have been removed and are now in ISO 14020:2022;
the document has been restructured to correspond with the structure of ISO 14020;
self-declared environmental claims are now required to be part of a documented “programme”;
enhanced requirements have been included for documentary information to be retained to demonstrate the validity/veracity of the self-declared environmental claim;
new requirements have been added to disclose the effect of attribution of characteristics where it impacts the reliability of some self-declared environmental claims;
guidance has been added about the role that maintaining a chain of custody plays in assessing certain self-declared environmental claims, such as recycled content;
the specific claims included in Clause 8 have been updated to reflect changes in the market and additional claims have been added to Clause 8;
guidance for use of the Mobius loop symbol has been changed to address current marketplace confusion;
identification of environmental statements that are not appropriate for self-declared environmental claims and listing of other standards that can be used for these claims has been added;
reference documents have been updated and some terminology has been updated to reflect general usage.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

Introduction

0.1 This document contains principles, requirements and guidance for self-declared environmental claims as well as related social and economic aspects that are affected by environmental conditions or the environmental performance of the product. The validity and accuracy of such claims is essential to avoid unfair competition that can arise from vague, unreliable and deceptive environmental claims (e.g. greenwashing). When assessment methods used by those who make self-declared environmental claims are transparent, scientifically sound and documented, those who purchase, or will potentially purchase, products can be assured of the validity and accuracy of the claims.

0.2 Self-declared environmental claims can be made by manufacturers, importers, distributors, retailers or anyone likely to benefit from such claims. Self-declared environmental claims made in regard to products can take the form of words, symbols or graphics or combinations thereof on product or package labels, or in product literature, technical bulletins, advertising, publicity or telemarketing, as well as digital or electronic media.

0.3 Self-declared environmental claims are one type of environmental statement. The overall goals of environmental statements are to:

communicate accurate and relevant information about the environmental aspects or environmental impacts of products;
encourage the demand for and supply of products that cause less stress on the environment;
stimulate market-driven continual environmental improvement in products.

0.4 This document harmonizes the use of self-declared environmental claims. The benefits of using this document are:

accurate, relevant and verifiable self-declared environmental claims that are not misleading;
increased potential for market forces to stimulate and improve environmental aspects in production, processes and products;
prevention or minimization of unwarranted claims and greenwashing;
less marketplace confusion;
facilitation of international trade;
increased opportunities for purchasers, potential purchasers and users of a product to make better-informed choices.

0.5 The international harmonization of requirements for self-declared environmental claims is intended to help businesses, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to present substantiated, correct and transparent environmental information on their products, consequently limiting the risk of greenwashing.

0.6 This document provides a framework for regulatory authorities in different jurisdictions to harmonize how they interpret various self-declared environmental claims.

The document can also be of use to trade associations seeking to provide their members with guidance about making self-declared environmental claims.

0.7 This document is one of the documents developed by ISO/TC 207/SC 3 that provide principles, requirements and guidance for different types of environmental statements about products. These documents include the following:

ISO 14020, which provides common terms and definitions, principles and general requirements for all environmental statements (e.g. self-declared environmental claims, ecolabels, EPDs and footprint communications) and associated programmes that enable the communication of environmental aspects and environmental impacts of products.
ISO 14021 (this document), which provides principles, requirements and guidance for environmental statements in the form of self-declared environmental claims.
ISO 14024, which provides principles, requirements and guidance for environmental statements in the form of ecolabels.
ISO 14025, which provides principles, requirements and guidance for environmental statements in the form of environmental product declarations (EPDs).
ISO 14026, which provides principles, requirements and guidance for environmental statements in the form of footprint communications.
ISO/TS 14027, which provides principles, requirements and guidance for product category rules (PCR) that support the use of life cycle assessment (LCA) as a method to compile and evaluate information that is used as a basis for making environmental statements.
ISO/TS 14029, which provides principles, requirements and guidance for the mutual recognition of EPDs, footprint communications and associated programmes.

0.8 Environmental statement programme operators are encouraged to cooperate and harmonize with each other, whenever relevant and applicable, to enhance the coherence of environmental statement programmes, at regional, national and international levels.

0.9 Figure 1 provides the existing structure of the documents on environmental statements developed by ISO/TC 207/SC 3 in graphic form.

0.10 This document requires the user to apply the requirements in ISO 14020. Those requirements refer to the generic term “environmental statement”. When reading this document and ISO 14020 together, the generic term “environmental statement” in ISO 14020 can be interpreted as referring to the specific term included in this document i.e. “self-declared environmental claim”.

1 Scope

This document establishes principles, specifies requirements and gives guidance on self-declared environmental claims about products and their environmental statement programmes, including claims that also cover related social and economic aspects that are affected by environmental conditions or the environmental performance of a product.

This document defines selected terms commonly used in self-declared environmental claims and provides qualifications for their use, as well as describing the documentation and methodologies required for assessing self-declared environmental claims.

This document is applicable to self-declared environmental claims that predominantly take the form of words, but can also be symbols or graphics on product or package labels, or appear in product literature, technical bulletins, advertising and publicity, including on digital platforms.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

3.1 Terms related to the environment

3.2 Terms related to environmental statements

3.3 Terms related to programmes

3.4 Terms related to products and their characteristics

3.5 Terms related to processes and activities

3.6 Other terms

4 Principles

5 Environmental statements not covered by this document

5.1 General

5.2 Documents on environmental statements for products

5.3 Footprint communications

5.4 Carbon neutral and net zero

5.5 Low carbon energy

5.6 Statements of sustainability

5.7 Statements of circularity

6 Requirements applying to self-declared environmental claim programmes

6.1 Self-declared environmental claim programme

6.2 Environmental statement programme operator

6.3 Involvement of interested parties

6.4 Scope of the programme, claimants and intended audiences

6.5 Specified requirements and criteria for the evaluation of self-declared environmental claims

6.6 Quantification methodologies, data quality and reporting

6.7 Conformity assessment

6.8 Format of self-declared environmental claims, reporting and publication

6.9 Changes or revisions to environmental statement programmes, specified requirements and criteria, and self-declared environmental claims

7 Requirements applying to all self-declared environmental claims

7.1 General

7.2 Multiple self-declared environmental claims

7.3 Other information and statements

7.4 Use of symbols and graphics in self-declared environmental claims

7.5 Comparative claims

7.6 Explanatory text and supporting information

7.7 Claims of attribution using chain of custody models

7.8 Donations and contributions

7.9 Endorsements

7.10 Vague or non-specific self-declared environmental claims

8 Requirements for selected self-declared environmental claims

8.1 General

8.2 Designed for disassembly

8.3 Designed for dismantling

8.4 Recovered material

8.5 Recycled content

8.6 “… free”

8.7 Recovered energy

8.8 Renewable material

8.9 Renewable energy

8.10 Bio-based

8.11 Reusable

8.12 Refillable

8.13 Repairable

8.14 Compostable

8.15 Degradable

8.16 Biodegradable

8.17 Recyclable

8.18 Extended life

8.19 Waste reduction

8.20 Reduced resource use

8.21 Reduced energy consumption of products

8.22 Reduced water use by products

Bibliography