🌱 What is the regulation’s aim?
The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) has been in force in the EU since 18 July 2024. The regulation aims to make products on the EU market “more environmentally sustainable and circular”. The goal is to “improve the circularity, energy performance and other environmental sustainability aspects of products placed on the EU market”. The EU hopes the regulation will create incentives for “protecting our planet, fostering more sustainable business models and strengthening the overall competitiveness and resilience of the EU economy”.[i]
🌱 What product rules does it set out?
The ESPR is a so-called “framework legislation”. This means that “concrete product rules will be decided progressively over time, on a product-by-product basis, or horizontally, on the basis of groups of products with similar characteristics”.[ii] On a high-level, the ESPR currently contains measures around digital product passports and green public procurement. It also includes rules “to address destruction of unsold consumer products”.
🌱 What products does it apply to?
The ESPR applies to almost all categories of physical goods – with several exceptions, like food and feed. It will establish performance and information conditions or so-called “ecodesign requirements” for different product groups.
🌱 What general requirements will it set out?
Concretely, the ESPR will set out requirements to: “[i]mprove product durability, reusability, upgradability and reparability, [m]ake products more energy and resource-efficient, [a]ddress the presence of substances that inhibit circularity, [i]ncrease recycled content, [m]ake products easier to remanufacture and recycle, [s]et rules on carbon and environmental footprints, [and] [i]mprove the availability of information on product sustainability”. Under the regulation, similar requirements will be set on product groups that have similar characteristics.[iii]
This post has been adapted from a newsletter written by Saskia Tykkyläinen and Christine Nikander for a collaboration between Palsa & Pulk and The E-Waste Column. The newsletter titled “How can digital product passports create more transparency in supply chains?” was originally published in both “The Just Transition Newsletter” and “The E-Waste Newsletter”.
[i] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/circular-design-ecodesign/ecodesign-for-sustainable-products-regulation; https://commission.europa.eu/energy-climate-change-environment/standards-tools-and-labels/products-labelling-rules-and-requirements/sustainable-products/ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation_en; https://green-business.ec.europa.eu/implementing-ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation_en; https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1781/ojL; https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/circular-economy-action-plan_en
[ii] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/circular-design-ecodesign/ecodesign-for-sustainable-products-regulation; https://commission.europa.eu/energy-climate-change-environment/standards-tools-and-labels/products-labelling-rules-and-requirements/sustainable-products/ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation_en; https://green-business.ec.europa.eu/implementing-ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation_en; https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1781/oj; https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/circular-economy-action-plan_en
[iii] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/circular-design-ecodesign/ecodesign-for-sustainable-products-regulation; https://commission.europa.eu/energy-climate-change-environment/standards-tools-and-labels/products-labelling-rules-and-requirements/sustainable-products/ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation_en; https://green-business.ec.europa.eu/implementing-ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation_en; https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1781/oj; https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/circular-economy-action-plan_en