Mathias Kirkegaard’s Post

2024/1781 Eocdesign Regulation for sustainable products: 🌳 The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) is a cornerstone of the Commission’s approach to more environmentally sustainable and circular products1. 🎍 The regulation establishes a framework to set ecodesign requirements for specific product groups to significantly improve their circularity, energy performance, and other environmental sustainability aspects1. 🔎 It's covering a wide range of requirements, including on product durability, reusability, upgradability, reparability, presence of substances that inhibit circularity, energy and resource efficiency, recycled content, remanufacturing and recycling, carbon and environmental footprints, and information requirements1. 🛂 The regulation introduces a new “Digital Product Passport” that will provide information about products’ environmental sustainability. This information will be easily accessible by scanning a data carrier and it will include attributes such as the durability and reparability, the recycled content, or the availability of spare parts of a product1. In terms of packaging, the European Parliament passed a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation on packaging and packaging waste where DPP for packaging was repealed as well. This regulation amends Regulation amending Directive (EU) 2020/1828 and Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 and repealing Directive 2009/125/EC. 😊

Developing policies for a smart and inclusive circular transition in Europe ♻ 🛠 A paper recently published by Carl Dalhammar - Lund University and Mattias Lindahl - Linköping University examines current and planned EU circular economy policies, their key impact on industries, and where additional policy interventions are needed. Here are the key tawe-aways : 🏹 Lack of overall circular economy targets: while the EU has a monitoring framework, no binding targets have been set. Companies with circular business models seek resource efficiency targets, which could lead to further policies and influence public procurement to favour circular solutions. 📐 Product regulation: legal tools for batteries, vehicles, and R-activities are in place, positioning the EU as a global leader in product regulation. However, issues remain with legal compliance, market surveillance, conflicting rules, and coordination. Producer responsibility rules still incentivise recycling over better alternatives like reuse, and waste trade regulations can hinder recycling efforts within Europe and internationally. ⚙ Standardisation : compliance with EU rules depends on harmonised standards, but the pace of standardisation is struggling to keep up with new laws, potentially creating bottlenecks. According to the authors, the European Commission should prioritise this issue. 🌀 Dealing with an "avalanche" of EU laws: new EU laws, such as CSRD and CBAM, will increase reporting requirements for companies, particularly SMEs. According to the authors, industries need support and tools from the EU and national agencies to manage these obligations. Synergies should be sought between different information requirements, like digital passports and recycled content in products. ➿ How EU Member States can support EU policies: key measures include enforcing EU rules, developing circular public procurement criteria, coordinating CE and climate policies, revising waste laws, building recycling infrastructure, and adopting best practices like VAT reductions for reuse and repair activities. 👁 Looking forward, the EU should consider justice issues, including equitable resource consumption according to the authors. Given global environmental challenges and inequalities in carbon emissions, addressing these dimensions may become crucial.

ESPR: Ecodesign requirements The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) is part of the EU's Circular Economy Action Plan. It came into force on July 18, 2024, replacing the 2009 Ecodesign Directive. The ESPR focuses on products that impact the environment. It aims to double the EU's material circularity rate. This regulation is a key step towards a circular, sustainable economy. It promotes circularity, energy efficiency, and sustainable business models. The ESPR has clear ecodesign requirements such as: - Durability - Reliability - Reusability - Upgradability - Repairability - The possibility of maintenance and refurbishment - The presence of substances of concern - Energy use and energy efficiency - Water use and water efficiency - Resource use and resource efficiency - Recycled content - The possibility of remanufacturing - Recyclability - The possibility of recovery of materials - Environmental impacts, including carbon footprint and environmental footprint - Expected generation of waste Below you can find key actions for circular and sustainable products 👇 To learn more, check out our newest article. Link in the comments.

Happy to share my first article that I wrote for Circularise regarding the recently adapted ESPR - The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation. The full article can be accessed below or in the comments of the post😊👇🏻 https://lnkd.in/eTWycjWZ

The regulation, now in force, will set requirements for (A) Product durability, reusability, upgradability and reparability, (B) The presence of substances that hinder circularity, (C) Energy and resource efficiency, (D) Recycled content, (E) Remanufacturing and recycling, (F) Carbon and environmental footprints, and (G) Information requirements, including a Digital Product Passport https://lnkd.in/dXJvdkQv

How to measure circularity of a product?  In the last few years, the regulatory landscape has moved tremendously fast, with emerging directives such as the CSRD, EU Ecodesign Regulation, the Waste Framework Directive and more, leaving many companies and their sustainability departments overwhelmed with requirements and regulatory pressure. The new ISO family of standards on circular economy provides detailed guidance on HOW to measure and report circularity and helps to comply with most regulations. Additionally, since it is a standard, it is possible for 3rd party experts to review your work, giving you confidence in your delivery.   The standard uses a wide range of indicators to measure circular performance, with the following 6 being mandatory.   During production: - Average reused inputs (for instance a refurbished laptop can include up to 90% reused components) - Average recycled inputs (e.g. recycled plastics or aluminum) - Average renewable input (e.g. paper) At the end of life: - Actual reused products and components derived at the end-of life - Actual recycled materials derived at the end-of life - Actual recirculation of biological materials   The wording “Actual” means you must measure the recovery rates of your product, and not only rely on industry averages. Our Principal Louise Eriksson comments: "Just because a material is “recyclable”, it doesn't mean that it gets recycled. For example, while glass packaging is highly recyclable, glass elements in electronics are not". We have developed and tested with clients a methodology to trace the actual material flows at the end of life. Would you like to know more? 

JRC Report -Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation: Study on new product priorities- is published. ”The results of this Report identify 11 final products, 7 intermediate products and three horizontal requirements (Durability, Recyclability, Recycled content) as potential priorities for the setting of ecodesign criteria under ESPR, given their relevance in terms of environmental impacts, improvement potential, Open Strategic Autonomy, and the extent to which such products are covered by EU policies. This Final Report will feed into reflections on the first ESPR Working Plan, but its results do not bind the Commission, and are without prejudice to what may ultimately be prioritised for first action under ESPR, included in the first ESPR Working Plan, or undertaken under other EU policy frameworks. In this respect, it should be noted that the Commission will also be required to take other aspects into account, when defining first priorities under ESPR – including the obligation to consider prioritising the products listed in Article 18 of the 92 ESPR text62 in the first ESPR Working Plan, available resources and the political priorities of the new Commission.” Link to the report can be found from comments #espr

European Parliament approves new ‘#ecodesign’ rules to make products more #sustainable. ♻️ New rules on the #ecodesign of products are now ready to become binding legislation in all EU🇪🇺 member states. With 455 votes in favor, 99 against, and 54 abstentions, the plenary session of the European Parliament gave the final green light in April 23rd to the Regulation on #Ecodesign of Sustainable Products, based on the understanding the rapporteur for the European Parliament Alessandra Moretti co-legislators of the Council of the European Union reached in December last year. "The time has come to free ourselves from the outdated take-produce-destroy model, which is creating many problems for our #planet, our health, and our economy,” the MEP said at the voting session in Strasbourg:👇🏻 “Let’s pave the way for a new era, where every product is made in a more #sustainable way and where consumers can save energy, repair, and make smart #environmental choices.” #ESPR #ecodesign #sustainability #circularity #recycling 📌 Details 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

New article out on the environmental performance of circular economy, in this case, reuse of shell jackets! https://lnkd.in/dgRwCdYi   It shows how a more comprehensive data collection, e.g. with regard to commonly overlooked aspects such as rebound effects and displacement rates, is highly influential for results of LCAs of circular economy measures, such as reuse. By and large, the results call for a more cautious stance with regard to the environmental promise of circular economy measures than many people seem to have. 

Excited to share the fourth instalment in our series on EU sustainability and circular economy legislation, focusing on the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation. 🌍💡 This pivotal regulation extends the ecodesign requirements to a broader range of product groups, aiming to enhance their longevity, repairability, recyclability, and energy efficiency. ✏ The Regulation: ♻ Will apply to most physical goods sold in the EU, though food and feed are excluded. ♻ Includes a number of priority products, including iron, textiles, chemicals and information and communication technology products and other electronics ♻ Introduces a new Digital Product Passport for products, components and materials. ♻ Introduces new rules concerning the destruction of unsold consumer products.   The new rules are set to take effect in July 2026, so businesses have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the changes and integrate them into their compliance strategies and operations. You can read more about the detail, and what businesses need to do next, in our article. ⬇ Eleni Diamantopoulou Ashley Borthwick Francesca Hodgson  🌍💡 #Sustainability #CircularEconomy #Ecodesign #EURegulation https://lnkd.in/ed3KMWE4