EU: New draft ecodesign regulation

 

The EU Commission has published a new draft ecodesign regulation.

Its full name is Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for setting ecodesign requirements for sustainable products and repealing Directive 2009/125/EC.

In contrast to the current Directive 2009/125/EG, aspects such as the possibility of repair, upgrading, recycling and reusability should also be included in the assessment of the eco-design of products. The presence of harmful chemicals should also be taken into account.

Interestingly, contrary to the existing directive, the scope of the new regulation would be much broader.  It shall apply to any physical good that is placed on the market or put into service, including components and intermediate products (with several exemptions defined in the regulation).

The new ecodesign requirements, which will be further elaborated by the Commission in delegated acts in the future, relate to:

(a) product durability and reliability;

(b) product reusability;

(c) product upgradability, reparability, maintenance and refurbishment;

(d) the presence of substances of concern in products;

(e) product energy and resource efficiency;

(f) recycled content in products;

(g) product remanufacturing and recycling;

(h) products’ carbon and environmental footprints;

(i) products’ expected generation of waste materials.

The full text of the draft regulation is available HERE.

To find out more about product compliance, ecodesign requirements in the EU and the EU CE conformity assessment system, do not hesitate to contact the Product Compliance Institute directly.