Ecodesign, an EU success story, is expanding. More products than ever will soon be designed from the outset with sustainability in mind — a development that will be good for the environment and consumers. But how? And when? The Ecodesigned4LIFE project consortium, ECOS, BEUC, and ANEC, break it down.
Alongside +35 other NGOs, ECOS calls for a timely and ambitious revision of ecodesign regulations for solid fuel local space heaters. That includes resuming the stalled revision process without weakening the proposed regulations, stricter emission limit values, and the inclusion of further pollutants in the revised regulations. Read the letter for full details.
ECOS has long advocated for ecodesign principles to apply broadly across products and sectors. This month, the first working plan for the ESPR was published, bringing us one step closer. These new ecodesign rules will eventually apply to almost all products sold on the EU market, but we are only at the beginning of a lengthy implementation process. We will continue to push for the most ambitious implementation.
Press release | The European Commission’s first Working Plan for implementing the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) has been published. It confirms the list of priority products this policy will tackle first to improve their sustainability – with almost all products on the EU market due to be covered eventually. The list includes textile apparel, furniture, mattresses, tyres, iron and steel, and aluminium.
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.
Join our webinar on how the EU can lower the cost of spare parts for electronics, hosted by ECOS with the Right to Repair Europe coalition.
A number of important EU policies will be taking shape this year – ecodesign, the Clean Industrial Deal, circular vehicle design - to name but a few. ECOS will be closely following these files and participating in the development of related standards, secondary legislation, and design requirements. The ECOS Africa office will also be hosting a webinar with our Cameroonian member to exchange best practices from Europe and Africa for tackling greenwashing.
Our new five-year strategy will help deliver our vision of a healthy and clean environment, protected by robust rules that respect nature and its resources. In our 2025 work programme, we lay out how we will create momentum for ambitious, systemic change. We also take a deep dive on some key EU files for 2025 and analyse the EU’s new rules on packaging and ecodesign, which are now at the crucial stage of implementation – where secondary legislation and standards will play an important role.
The repairability of vehicles is declining - and we want to change that. ECOS has signed a joint statement on repair in the proposed EU regulation on circularity requirements for vehicle design and on management of end-of-life vehicles. We call for stronger provisions for repair and reuse to strengthen consumers’ choice, local jobs and businesses, and European strategic autonomy, as well as ensure compliance with the waste hierarchy and reduce environmental strain.
Plastics in products have a huge impact on human health and the environment - yet they are not prioritised in the EU's new ecodesign rules. In the final text of the EU's Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation the plastics and polymers sector is not listed in the intermediate product priorities. With the Rethink Plastic alliance, we sent a letter to the European Commission outlining the crucial reasons why plastics should be prioritised in the first ESPR working plan.
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