Ecodesign for Sustainable Products (ESPR)
Green Deal
The Green Deal is probably the best known initiative that Europe introduced to meet their environmental and climate goals. New rules for environmentally sustainable and circular products are an important part of this. Consumption of products, and the way they are used and disposed significantly impacts the environment, and it causes climate change and pollution.
ESPR
The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 provides the framework for more sustainable and circular products.
The ESPR addresses the following subjects, all of which fall under the heading of Ecodesign:
- Improving product durability, reusability, upgradability and reparability;
- Enhancing the possibility of product maintenance and refurbishment;
- Making products more energy and resource-efficient;
- Addressing the presence of substances that inhibit circularity;
- Increasing recycled content;
- Making products easier to remanufacture and recycle;
- Setting rules on carbon and environmental footprints;
- Limiting the generation of waste;
- Improving the availability of information on product sustainability.
ALL products
The ESPR replaces the current Ecodesign Directive 2009/125/EC that set requirements for energy-related products mainly focussing on the energy consumption during use. This Directive applied to a limited of products which might lead to the misunderstanding that the scope of ESPR is limited too. Quite the opposite is true, the ESPR will cover virtually all physical products, with only a few exemptions. Not only the scope is much broader, the range of ecodesign requirements goes far beyond just energy consumption as the list above shows.
Timeline
The ESPR Regulation entered into force on 18 July 2024. However the ecodesign requirements for a given product group shall be set first in so-called Delegated Acts. The first delegated acts shall not enter into force before 19 July 2025 and most likely even later than that.
The implementation of ESPR by the European Commission starts with setting out products and priorities in the ESPR Working Plan 2025. Based on the plan the detailed work, impact assessment and stakeholder consultation will be handled by a dedicated group of experts cooperating in the Ecodesign Forum.
Preparations have already started. JRC, the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, published a preliminary study of almost 300 pages on new product priorities for ESPR (download). JRC studied on 34 different products, from which 12 end-use products and 7 intermediate products were shortlisted. It seems certain that textiles and steel will be top priorities.
An update of the JRC report is expected before the end of 2024.
Digital Product Passport (DPP)
From its start, the ESPR has been inseparable from the Digital Product Passport (DPP). The introduction of the DPP will make it easy for all stakeholders, including consumers, to make ‘informed decisions’ on products. In slightly longer wording: the DPP is a digital identity card for products, components, and materials, which will store relevant information to support products’ sustainability, promote their circularity and strengthen legal compliance.
Consult the related article in ProductIPedia for regular news on the DPP.
Unsold textiles and footwear
The ESPR also introduces new measures in line with the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles. Many unsold products are simply destroyed, wasting valuable resources. The ESPR tackles this practice with a ban on the destruction of unsold textiles and footwear. Similar bans for other product groups may follow.
Please visit the European Commission’s ESPR website to follow new developments.
