Ecodesign requirements for sustainable products

KEY POINTS

• This framework regulation replaces and enlarges the scope of the current ecodesign directive (Directive 2009/125/EC – see summary). It becomes then the legal basis for assessing and setting ecodesign² requirements via delegated acts. Ecodesign requirements could be set either for a specific product group or horizontally (more than one product group) on the basis of a regularly updated pluriannual working plan.
• The regulation is part of a package of measures that are central to achieving the objectives of the 2020 circular economy action plan, one of the central pillars of the European Green Deal.
• Ecodesign requirements, if suitable, could potentially cover any physical good put into service or placed on the EU market with some exceptions, such as food and feed, along with medicinal products and vehicle aspects already covered under sector-specific EU legislation. Defence- and national security-related products of non-dual use will not be addressed via ecodesign requirements.
• It provides for the detailed assessment of the feasibility and subsequent setting of ecodesign requirements designed to:
  • improve products’ durability, reusability, upgradability and reparability;
  • make products more energy and resource efficient;
  • tackle the presence of substances that inhibit circularity;
  • increase recycled content;
  • make products easier to remanufacture and recycle;
  • reduce carbon and environmental footprints;
  • improve the availability of information on product sustainability;
  • address the destruction of unsold consumer products.

Digital product passport

The regulation also introduces a digital product passport (DPP), a digital identity card for products, components and materials.

• The DPP stores relevant information to support products’ sustainability, promote their circularity and strengthen legal compliance.
• The information is accessible electronically, making it easier for consumers, manufacturers and authorities (including customs) to assess sustainability, circularity and regulatory compliance.
• The information included on the DPP will depend on the specific product in question but can include:
  • technical performance;
  • materials and their origins;
  • repair activities;
  • recycling capabilities;
  • life cycle environmental impacts.

Green public procurement

The regulation includes the possibility of setting minimum mandatory requirements to be fulfilled by public authorities within the EU when purchasing products covered by the regulation via green public procurement criteria.