Press briefing | By 19 April, the European Commission will adopt its first Working Plan to implement the new EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). It will confirm which products will be addressed first before developing performance requirements to improve their environmental sustainability – including measures on durability and repair. The Working Plan will supplement other ongoing work on ESPR implementation, such as a ban on the destruction of unsold goods. What can we expect and when? Find out in our Q&A.
The textiles industry is too big to be sustainable. In our report we unpick the unsustainable and unfair status quo and reimagine a sector that uses fewer resources but promotes more creativity and collaboration, ensuring dignity and social justice for all.
Recycling and recovery aren't enough to make a truly circular economy. The EU must address ALL the pillars of circularity - narrowing, slowing, closing, cycling, and regenerating - and focus on reducing the amount of resources we use as a priority.
The current paradigm of the EU separates chemical safety (health) and sustainability, but evidence shows us that we need a holistic approach. Continuing to legislate products through two separate lenses has led to a regulatory system that can be unclear and insufficiently addresses the complex barrage of anthropogenic chemicals that are being used in and emitted from products. Customers believe they are protected from chemical hazards in all products and companies can find the rules duplicative and challenging to navigate. Chemical safety, health and sustainability must be dealt with together.
The EU is still at the beginning of a real transition to a circular economy. To truly put a stop to the take/make/use/dispose economy we need robust policies that will help to reduce and reuse resources and extend their lifetime - shifting the focus from extraction to regeneration. In our latest paper we outline the steps needed for the new Circular Economy Act to deliver.
ECOS is looking for experts in the field of furniture circularity to represent and defend environmental interests in the development of standards and related policies. Our experts provide technical and scientific input and represent ECOS in standardisation processes and multi-stakeholder discussions.
As Europe decarbonises, batteries (and the materials needed to manufacture them) are in high demand. Used for many different purposes – including electric vehicles (EVs) – batteries must be sustainable and safe while addressing growing environmental concerns that stem from widespread electrification. As well as reducing the carbon footprint of manufacturing, the right solutions will also account for the end of a battery’s life. This report evaluates the revised EU Battery Regulation. How will it help to close the circularity loop, and how can we ensure it is successfully implemented?
The squandering of recyclable resources, losing their material value to incineration and landfilling, constitutes a significant yet avoidable hindrance to realising the circular economy. Though a further comprehensive revision of Waste Framework Directive (WFD) is anticipated, the ongoing revision should urgently address the incineration and landfilling of recyclable waste. This is pivotal for achieving municipal and packaging waste recycling targets, already enshrined in EU law for multiple years but challenging for many Member States.
The tool of EPR has been widely recognised and celebrated as being an effective way of making producers responsible for products and the waste they produce. In this paper, concrete legislative measures are proposed that could advance the working of EPR, making it an effective environmental tool that helps to achieve reduction, prevention, separate collection and closed-loop recycling targets for a broad range of product categories.
The number of electronics on the EU market increased by more than 85% between 2013-2021, new Eurostat data reveals [1]. This is leading to a similarly expanding rate of e-waste [2]. A bold and urgent answer is needed from the EU to mitigate environmental damage caused by Europe’s exponentially growing reliance on electronics.
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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EISMEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
