Green Claims, EmpCo and the ACT Label, With James Connelly CEO of My Green Lab

From September 2026, the EU stops accepting green claims that nobody has verified. Self-certified labels are banned. Fines run up to 4% of annual revenue. So how many sustainability claims in life science and medtech actually survive this? To find out I talked to James Connelly, CEO of My Green Lab, the non-profit behind the ACT Ecolabel, the first third-party verified eco-label for laboratory products. Over 5,300 labs in 62 countries have engaged with My Green Lab certification, including 42 of the 50 largest biotech and pharma companies. In this episode: How the ACT 2.0 label works: a 100-point weighted score covering everything from corporate sustainability goals to end of life, verified by an independent auditor with no on-site visit required What the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive actually bans, and what "verifiable" means for your own claims Why self-certified green leaves are now explicitly banned under EU law, and what to use instead The line between a defensible CO2 claim and one that gets you in regulatory trouble Why medical devices don't have an ACT-style label yet, and what would have to change first What ACT certification actually costs and how long it takes CHAPTERS 00:00 The claim that just got banned 01:35 Welcome, James Connelly 01:37 My Green Lab vs the ACT Ecolabel 03:30 Inside the ACT 2.0 100-point score 05:43 How the certification process works 07:23 Why there is no on-site audit 09:16 Where ISCC+ and mass balance certifications fit in 10:21 Scaling to thousands of SKUs 14:33 How long certification takes, and the push to three months 15:37 What ACT certification costs 18:19 Bronze to green, and why nobody has hit green yet 21:49 Where the Digital Product Passport fits in 24:52 What the Empowering Consumers Directive actually bans 27:35 Why self-certified green leaves are now banned 32:29 How to document a defensible CO2 claim 36:06 The line between a defensible claim and a risky one 38:17 Why medical devices don't have an ACT label yet 43:22 The medtech conversations already underway 44:42 James's advice: stop analyzing, get started CONNECT WITH JAMES CONNELLY:   / james-connelly-55909024   ABOUT THE PODCAST: MedTech Sustainability by Design is the show for people choosing better plastics in medical technology. Book a free consultation: https://calendly.com/lucas-pianegonda... Gradical: https://www.gradical.ch #GradicalPodcast #Sustainability #MedTech #MedicalDevices