Demand for electronics surges every year, but we struggle to manage the impacts. Vast amounts of raw materials are extracted for production, and when electronics eventually become waste, only 17.4% of it is properly handled. A lot of e-waste is illegally dumped in low or middle-income countries, causing conflicts, human rights abuses, and environmental degradation. ECOS envisions a sustainable, circular future where electronics are easy to maintain, repair, reuse, and recycle. In a society so reliant on electronics, ambitious rules to ensure they are sustainable throughout their life cycle are a must – from resource extraction, to design, recycling, and waste.
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.
Ecodesign is one of the EU’s crowning achievements, making products more sustainable by ensuring environmental impacts are considered from the outset. The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) will make this a reality for more products than ever. What will happen in 2025? How will this framework be implemented? How can every product become sustainable by default?
ECOS is looking for ecodesign experts in the field of electronics and ICT products to represent and defend environmental interests in the development of standards and related policies. Our experts provide us with technical and scientific input and represent ECOS in standardisation processes and multi-stakeholder discussions. Apply now!
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.
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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.