Apple gets criticized by the EU on the use of "carbon neutral" claims for its newest Apple Watches

Apple has recently been under scrutiny for its environmental claims, and it's now under fire from the EU on the latest Apple Watch carbon-neutral claims, reports 9to5Mac. It seems the European Union is rejecting the claim for a carbon-neutral Apple Watch.

Apple's claim about carbon neutrality with the Apple Watch challenged by the EU

During Apple's September event, the company also announced two carbon-neutral Apple Watch options for the Series 9 and the Ultra 2. However, this claim is now being disputed by the European consumer organization BEUC.

Apple is claiming customers can get a carbon-neutral option for the new Apple Watches in its press release from the September event. The company claims the Apple Watch Series 9 is its first carbon-neutral product.

However, there's one caveat. Even in Apple's press release, there's an admission that the claim is based on the use of offsetting credits. According to the post, emissions were reduced from materials, electricity, and transportation. The small amount of emissions remaining, claims Apple, are offset with high-quality carbon credits.

Reportedly, the "small amount" of emissions left amounts to between 7 and 12 kg per watch.

The European consumer organization has then gone ahead to reject the carbon-neutral claim. Monique Goyens, the director-general of BEUC, stated that the carbon neutral claims are "scientifically inaccurate and mislead consumers". The EU is also planning on banning the carbon-neutral claims.

But what exactly is the BEUC? It's actually an umbrella group for 45 independent consumer organizations coming from 31 countries in the EU. Gilles Dufrasne, a policy officer at Carbon Market Watch said that Apple's claim is misleading as well because it's suggesting to customers that they're buying a Watch with no impact on the climate at all.

Despite the criticism though, it's acknowledged that Apple has done some good work on eliminating 81% of Watch-based emissions, in comparison to 2015.

The EU also announced plans to ban the use of carbon-neutral claims in general, mainly because almost 100% of the companies that make such claims rely on offsets. The ban is yet to be official, but it is expected to come into force in 2026 if approved.