SWITZERLAND Trends and Developments Contributed by: Annemarie Lagger and Amina Chammah, Walder Wyss Ltd
of products; (ii) the avoidance of harm - ful effects and the increase of resource efficiency during the life cycle; the (iii) the standardised, comparable, visible and comprehensible labelling and information; and (iv) the introduction of a repair index (Article 35i, EPA); and (b) oblige manufacturers, importers and foreign online retail companies that place products on the market that are suitable for recovery to pay a prepaid disposal fee (Article 32abis, EPA). So far, the Federal Council has not exercised its new competences, and no timeline for action has been published. However, given Switzer - land’s former partial alignment with EU law in this field, further developments on ecodesign and product repairability are likely. Notably, even before the EPA amendments took effect, the Federal Council was tasked by the Swiss Parliament with drafting a bill to align Swiss war - ranty and consumer remedies law, including the right to repair, with EU standards. This draft is still pending. Packaging Legislation Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste (the “Packaging Regulation” ) establishes an updated legal framework to reduce the environmental impact of packaging across the EU. It aims to reduce the environ - mental footprint of packaging by introducing strict prevention, design and reuse obligations. The Packaging Regulation focuses on the food, delivery and retail sector. It requires, among oth - er things, that all packaging placed on the EU market is fully recyclable by 2030 and sets mini - mum thresholds for the use of recycled material. The Regulation will apply from 12 August 2026.
Switzerland does not provide for such exten - sive packaging and packaging waste legisla - tion. Aside from the general changes to the EPA mentioned above, Swiss law only provides for sector-specific regulations ‒ for instance, certain content restrictions for packaging that comes into contact with food, as set out in the Food Contact Materials Ordinance. At present, only glass beverage containers are subject to an Directive (EU) 2024/825, as regards empower - ing consumers for the green transition through better protection against unfair practices and through better information (the “Greenwashing Directive” ), introduces strict rules with regard to advertising and labelling services and prod - ucts as sustainable and environmentally friend - ly. It also enhances information obligations on durability and repairability of products. Among other things, the Greenwashing Directive pro - hibits unsubstantiated generic terms relating to sustainability and environmental aspects and restricts the use of sustainability labels not based on approved certification schemes or established by public authorities. The Green - washing Directive will be applicable to market operators from 27 September 2026 and applies to all kinds of products placed on the EU market. In addition, the European Commission pro - posed a Directive on substantiation and com - munication of explicit environmental claims (the “Green Claims Directive” ), which is currently under review by the Council of the European Union. The draft of the Green Claims Directive introduces harmonised rules on, for example, the substantiation of environmental claims by using reliable, state-of-the-art methods and the transparent communication of such claims. It will require EU member states to establish inde - advance disposal fee in Switzerland. Greenwashing and Green Claims
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