Despite their crucial role in increasing the integration of renewable energy sources in our economy and in decarbonising the transport sector, batteries do come at a cost to the environment. They can have a serious impact on biodiversity, water and air quality. This is linked to the mining and extraction of critical raw materials, as […]
Post Type Archives: News & Events
Environmentalists urge von der Leyen to boost heat pumps and slash EU’s 1-billion-euro daily bill for Russian gas
A decisive push for a massive uptake of heat pumps would dramatically help cut gas use in the European Union, organisations say Every day, the EU pays approximately 1 billion euros for Russian gas, according to EU High Representative Josep Borrell Today, nine environmental organisations have sent a letter to EU Commission president […]
What future for plastic recycling in a circular and toxic-free economy? – New report
We cannot continue our addiction to plastics and simply recycle our way out of the biodiversity and climate crisis, but recycling does have an important role to play. Unfortunately, the reality of plastics recycling today is far away from where it needs to be. The EU’s linear economy produces 58 million tonnes of plastic per […]
ECOS Newsletter – April 2022
Commission sets Europe on path to true circularity – ecodesign principles will be extended to textiles and construction products
The Sustainable Products Initiative aims to reduce the environmental impacts of products across most sectors, including textiles. The Textiles Strategy also announces several steps towards reforming the sector. The revised Construction Products Regulation also proposes to extend ecodesign principles to one of the most environmentally damaging sectors on the planet The EU makes plans on […]
Textile strategy contains green ambition but forgets workers from the equation
More textile products are being sold at a faster rate than ever before, putting untold pressure on our climate, environment, and people. Europe’s overconsumption of clothes, shoes and household textiles uses up 675 million tonnes of raw materials every year, and poor working conditions and human rights’ violations are rife across the global textile industry. […]
EU’s world-leading ambition has real potential to make sustainable products the norm – but only if implemented swiftly and without loopholes
Today, the European Commission has presented its Sustainable Products Initiative (SPI), an ambitious legislative agenda that could transform the way products are designed, produced, reused and repaired in the EU. [1] ECOS welcomes the initiative. Building on the success of the Ecodesign Directive and extending the ecodesign principle to all products on the market is a […]
It’s time to green the construction sector
Concrete, bricks, wood beams, windows… Construction products are essential components of the built environment that surrounds us. However, they also have a huge environmental impact throughout their entire lifecycle. For a greener and more sustainable Europe, we need to focus on improving their overall sustainability. On 30 March, the European Commission will publish a proposal […]
Make-or-break aspects of the EU´s Sustainable Products Initiative, Strict Requirements for Intermediary Products
Intermediary products are unfinished goods made from materials such as steel, cement and chemicals that require further manufacturing or transformation. They are produced by energy intensive industries and used in almost all sectors, including construction and automotive. Beyond substantial CO2 emissions, intermediary product manufacturing has a range of other harmful embodied environmental impacts such as […]
ECOS briefing: Sustainable Products Initiative (SPI) – What to expect?
Falling under the European Commission’s new Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) – a key building block of the European Green Deal – the Sustainable Products Initiative (SPI) is a framework regulation comprised of a set of legislative files that aims to boost the circularity of the EU’s single market. The SPI is set to be […]
