A new law has entered into force in the European Union that sets sustainability requirements for a wide range of products for everyday household use, the European Commission announced.
Products consume enormous amounts of resources and cause significant environmental impacts throughout their life cycle – from the extraction of raw materials, to production, transportation, use and end of life.
Therefore, the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) should ensure that products last longer, are easier to repair and recycle, contain fewer problematic chemicals and more recycled materials, and are more energy and resource efficient.
The ESPR builds on the success of the existing Ecodesign Directive, which has already helped EU households save over €200 a year on average, mainly by making products more energy efficient.
“EU rules have a proven track record of making everyday household products more energy efficient and have delivered around half of EU energy savings, with a direct impact on consumers’ household bills. Energy efficiency measures are a concrete way for citizens to play an active role in the transition to clean energy and to benefit directly from it,” said the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson.
The new Regulation now covers a wider range of products and introduces “ecodesign requirements” in more categories such as product durability, reusability, upgradeability and repairability, presence of substances that hinder circularity, energy and resource efficiency, share of recycled content, processing and recycling, carbon footprint and environmental impact and product information, including a digital passport.
Rules to increase product sustainability will be gradually introduced for individual product groups or for several product groups with similar characteristics. Also, the rules for smartphones, shoes or tires will not be the same but will be developed based on scientific evidence, economic analysis and consultation with stakeholders. Once in place, the rules will apply to everyone who wants to sell on the EU market.
The ESPR also contains new measures to end the extremely harmful practice of destroying unsold products, including potential obligations for companies to take measures to prevent this practice. In addition, a direct ban on the destruction of unsold textile and footwear products will be introduced, with derogations for small businesses and a transitional period for medium-sized ones. If large companies destroy unsold products, they will have to publicly announce how much and why.
Milena Maglovski
Source: energetskiportal.rs
