On 18 July, the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) comes into force. It replaces the earlier, 2009 Ecodesign Directive, and establishes a framework for setting ‘ecodesign requirements’ on a variety of specific product groups: iron, steel, aluminium, textiles, furniture, tyres, detergents, paints, lubricants, chemicals, energy-related products like washing machines and fridges, ICT products and other electronics. Requirements for individual products will be set out over a period of time.
IEEP UK’s sister organisation in Brussels have written about the details of the new Regulation in June – see here.
Though the new regulation won’t apply to certain products placed on the EU market (such as food or feed or medicinal products), it is however designed to target a wider array of products than its 2009 predecessor. It also introduces a new requirement for a ‘digital passport’ that will share product related information about its sustainability, provides for the setting of mandatory green public procurement requirements and creates a framework to prevent unsold consumer products from being destroyed.
At the time of the UK’s exit from the EU, the UK government pushed through new secondary (domestic) legislation to implement an energy labelling directive (2017/1369). Often considered the twin to ecodesign regulation, the UK kept pace with the EU on that but there does not appear to be a similar rush to create secondary legislation to mirror the new EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation. This has therefore created policy and legal divergence between the EU and UK. It is conceivable that some of the elements within the new EU regulation may gain some traction and be incorporated into UK policy in due course. Green Alliance for example have been arguing for the use of product passports for several years.
What is more certain though is that UK producers or those who wish to sell their products on the EU market, including online marketplaces, they will have to comply with the new EU rules regardless.