Brochure Ecodesign En

8/3/2019 Brochure Ecodesign En

1/7

European

Commission

Enterprise

andI

ndustry

How Ecodesign can help the environment by making products smart


2/7

How ecodesign can help the environment

by making products smarter

All products have an impact on the environment during their lie-cycle spanning all phases rom cradle to grave,

such as the use o raw materials and natural resources, manuacturing, packaging, transport, disposal andrecycling. More than 80% o the environmental impact o a product is determined at the design stage.

Ecodesign implies taking into account all the environmental impacts o a product right rom the earliest

stage o design. This especially avoids uncoordinated product planning (or example, eliminating a toxicsubstance should not lead to increased energy consumption, which on balance could have a negative impact

on the environment).

The Ecodesign Directive provides a coherent and integrated ramework which allows or settingcompulsory ecodesign requirements or some products. For instance, the Ecodesign measure on standby

requires that much domestic electrical and electronic equipment such as washing machines, televisions orpersonal computers do not consume more than 1W in o mode as o 2010, and not more than 0.5W as o2013. However, such ecodesign requirements shall not lower the unctionality o a product, its saety,

or have a negative impact on its aordability or consumers health. A medical device, or example,should not be designed to consume less energy at the cost o quality or patient saety.

The European Commission has developed a methodology to assess whether ecodesign require-

ments should apply to a given product, and i yes, to identiy which ecodesign requirements areappropriate (see also point 4). For more inormation on this Ecodesign Methodology, please see

website o DG Enterprise and Industry:

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sustainable-business/ecodesign/methodology/index_en.htm


3/7

I, or instance, ecodesign requirements or household rerigera-

tors have been set under the Ecodesign Directive, any rerigeratorwhich does not comply with these requirements will not qualiy

or the CE-marking, and thereore cannot be sold in the EuropeanUnion. The energy consumption standards set under the Directivelead to considerable energy savings: by 2020, the rst ecodesign

measures on 11 product groups (see table 1) will allow energysavings equivalent toalmost 14% o the electricity consumption

o the EU in 2007 (compared to a business as usualscenario).

Measures include various improvements such as the maximumlegal limit o energy consumption allowed or standby ando-mode o electric and electronic appliances or equipping

electric motors with variable speed drives.

Ecodesign requirements address only the main environmentalparameters o products which have signicant sales and trade

in the EU (indicatively more than 200,000 units), a signicantenvironmental impact and potential or improvement. Ecodesignrequirements shall remain cost-eective. Excessive administrative

burden or manuacturers has to be avoided, as well as negativeimpacts on aordability or consumers and on industrys competi-

tiveness. Manuacturers can even have a competitive edge with theimproved perormance o their products.

The EU-level rules ensure that no diverging national or r

measures on ecodesign hinder the ree movement o oblige manuacturers to comply with many disparate reg

and prevent economies o scale (efcient implementaecodesign requirements allowing or EU-wide energy sav

Table1Thefrst twelvemeasures(more areplanned)= savingsequivalentto almost14%o the

consumptionotheEUin 2007

What are the benefits for European citizens and industry?

Eco design Measure Ado ptio n Estimated sa

Standby December 2008 35 TWh

Simple set top boxes February 2009 9 TWh

Street & Ofce Lighting March 2009 38 TWh

Domestic Lighting March 2009 39 TWh

External power supplies April 2009 9 TWh

Electric motors July 2009 135 TWh

Circulators July 2009 23TWh

Domestic rerigeration July 2009 8 TWh

Televisions July 2009 43 TWh

Dome stic dishwashers November 2010 2 T Wh

Dom esti c washi ng ma ch in es N ov em ber 2 01 0 1 .5 TWh

Fans March 2011 34 TWh

Total 376 TWh

For up-to-date inormation on all Ecodesign measures, please reer to our

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/ecodesign


4/7

The Ecodesign Directive oresees 2 types o mandatory product

requirements:

specifc requirements:

Set limit values, such as maximum energy consumption orminimum quantities o recycled material.

generic requirements:

Do not set limit values

May require, for example, that the energy consumption of

the product be as low as possible (compliance with the relevantharmonised European standard, i available, gives presumption o

conormity with the requirement).

May entail inormation requirements, such as material

provided by the manuacturer about best practices to use andmaintain the product in order to minimise its environmentalimpact.

May require that the manufacturer perform a lifecycle analysiso the product in order to identiy alternative design options and

solutions or improvement

Under the Ecodesign Directive, voluntaryagreemen

try are considered as a valid alternative to mandatory reunder certain conditions. The voluntary agreement m

the same objectives as binding legislation in a morecost-eective manner. The voluntary agreement madded value compared to the business as usualscena

quantifed and staged objectives. It must oresemonitoring and reporting (including independent i

and represent a majority o the industrial sector un

eration. Additional conditions are detailed in AnnexEcodesign Directive.

What type of product requirements can be set at EU level?

The Ecodesign Directive has been extended in 2009 to all

energy-related products(the use o which has an impact on energyconsumption), including:

energy-using products (EUPs): products which use, gener-ate, transer or measure energy (e.g. electricity, gas, ossil uel),

including consumer goods such as boilers, computers, TVs, washingmachines, light bulbs and industrial products such as transormers,industrial ans, industrial urnaces.

other energy related products (ERPs): products which do not

necessarily use energy, but have an impact on energy consump-tion (direct or indirect) and can thereore contribute to savingenergy, such as windows, insulation material or bathroom devices

(e.g. shower heads, taps).

The Ecodesign Directive does not create binding require-ments on products by itsel: product requirements are set inCommission Regulations (see also next page)

Which products does the Ecodesign Directive cover?

machine toolsTVs

water heaterscomputers

air conditioningrerigerating equipment


5/7

The European Commission adopts a Working Plan, which sets

out an indicative list o priority products to be explored or theirEcodesign potential over the next 3 years.

Each product group mentioned in the Working Plan is analysed in

a preparatory study, in order to assess whether and which ecode-sign requirements are appropriate (according to the Ecodesign

Methodology). A thorough impact assessment ollows, which laysdown essential gures such as energy saving potential or costs orindustry.

A drat Commission Regulation is submitted to the Consultation

Forum (representatives o EU and EEA Member States and o 30stakeholders such as business ederations, NGOs and consumer

organisations) or comments.

The drat is submitted to the vote o the Regulatory Committee

(representatives o EU Member States).

The drat Commission Regulation remains under the scrutiny othe European Parliament or 3 months.

The Commission ensures a common understand

ramework Directive and its implementing measuremeetings o representatives o Member States and all

stakeholders, in the Ecodesign Working Group. All issuesthe implementation o the Directive, i ncluding market s

are discussed there.

How are mandatory product requirements decided?

1 2 3 4 5

1

2

3

4

5


6/7

The current Working Plan contains an indicative list o products

to be investigated in priority by October 2011 including productslike commercial rerigerating equipment, sound and imagingequipment (such as DVD players and game consoles), ood prepar-

ing equipment (such as ovens, hobs and grills, coee machines)and machine tools. A new Working Plan or the period o 2012-

2014 will be drawn up in 2011.

The eectiveness o the Ecodesign Directive and its implement-ing measures has to be reviewed by the European Commis-sion no later than 2012. Based on this review, the Commission

shall assess the appropriateness o extending the scope o theDirective beyond energy related products. The Commission will

also review the Methodology or the Ecodesign o Energy-UsingProducts (MEEUP), taking into consideration the experience gained

with the rst implementing measures.

Which department is responsible or the Ecodesign Directivein the Commission?

The Ecodesign Directive is under the common responsibility o DG

Enterprise & Industry and DG Energy.

Contact:

[email protected] and [email protected]

Sustainable product policy

As presented in the Action Plan on a Sustainable Industr / Sustainable Consumption and Production (COM 200the Ecodesign Directive is meant to be used in consiste

other tools such as labelling (Energy Label and Ecolabelprocurement (Green Public Procurement) and nancial in

to deliver its ull potential.

What are the next steps?

A B C D E F G

Ecodesign Requirements Noncompliantproducts

ENVIRONMENTAL

PERFORMANCE


7/7

Directorate-General for Enterprise and IndustryWE MEAN BUSINESS

To nd out more:http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/ecodesign

Contact:[email protected]

[email protected]

This brochure is nanced under the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP)

which aims to encourage the competitiveness o European enterprises

Text

sby:B1unit|Designedby:R4unit|DGENTR

Printedo

nr

ecycledp

aperCyclusPrint

Images:fotolia.com|

EuropeanCommission

Brochure Ecodesign En

Documents

Transcript of Brochure Ecodesign En