Sustainable products and the circular economy

Improving sustainability, circularity and efficiency for products on the European market

With a new package of legislative and non-legislative measures, the European Commission aims to strengthen sustainability, circularity and efficiency for a wide range of products available on the European market.

The individual measures focus on different sectors and are intended to increase product requirements for resource and energy efficiency, durability, reparability and recyclability.

An essential component of the package is a revision of the existing Ecodesign Directive which will broaden the scope to cover a more comprehensive product range and implement requirements on recyclability and environmental footprint.

A digital product passport will be established to track substances of concern along the supply chain. The destruction of unsold consumer goods is to be prohibited and incentives offered for sustainable products.

Moreover, the Ecodesign and Energy Labelling Work Plan 2022-2024 expands the list of energy-related products and raises ambitions for already regulated products. The revised Construction Products Regulation is designed to modernise the current regulations.

The EU Strategy for Sustainable and Recyclable Textiles extends the product responsibility of textile manufacturers to the entire life cycle of the products, including disposal. This is intended to foster a circular textile ecosystem, promote innovative fibre-to-fibre recycling and ultimately reduce textile incineration or landfilling.

Please see article in the Environmental Compliance Update for more information.