Horizontal repair standard for ecodesign products wins CENELEC approval
Under the cryptic designation of FprEN 45554 hides a newly approved standard which paves the way for a market transition towards more repairable, reusable and upgradable products, a significant contribution towards a circular economy.
A major step towards systematising regulatory discussions on material efficiency and the development of product-specific standards on reparability has been taken with the approval of FprEN 45554, a standard for the assessment of reparability, reusability and upgradeability (RRU) of ecodesign products.
The standard, which underwent a Formal Vote in October, was developed under standardisation request M/543. The support for the standard was overwhelming with 14 national standard bodies casting a positive vote, and only one voting negatively.
FprEN45554 provides a general methodology for the assessment of the ability to repair, reuse and upgrade energy-related products within the scope of the ecodesign and energy labelling framework. It contains relevant definitions, lists a number of important criteria influencing repairability, reusability and upgradeability, and establishes a way to compare and score products from one product group based on those three concepts.
As such, it has the potential to drive future discussions on parameters to consider for the reparability of products, such as the availability of spare parts and the provision of repair information. It can also support the ongoing discussions on a reparability scoring system for the energy label.
ECOS represented European environmental NGOs throughout the standard’s development process and actively contributed to its structure and content. We now very much hope that this approval will lead to the publication of the standard as soon as possible, and open the way to a reparability score on the energy label.
