Position & Amendments to the Ecodesign of Sustainable Products Regulation
The Ecodesign Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) is an important development for the circular economy, one in which waste management plays a key role. Municipal Waste Europe represents municipalities' obligations to collect in accordance with EU waste legislation, thereby playing their role in the delivery of circular raw materials to manufacturing but also in preventing waste by preserving products through repair and reuse. MWE supports the scope of the proposal in co-decision, widening the Ecodesign Directive from just energy use to materials. The proposal introduces numerous Delegated Acts which would extend the reach of the Regulation to each product group however MWE finds that several of the vertical ecodesign requirements should be made horizontal and therefore applicable to all products.
The proposal omits a general ban on the destruction of returned, unsold goods. The decision whether destruction is banned or not is left to the Delegated Acts and therefore would be a decision taken for each product group. MWE does consider that a horizontal ban on destroying unsold goods is possible and necessary, leaving the option open in the case that acts of god caused fire, water or physical damage to the products rendering them unsaleable.
In its amendments, MWE also introduces a horizontal ecodesign requirement to penalise programmed obsolescence. Design practices that shorten the lifespan of products or hinder disassembly and reparability need to be forbidden in order to encourage waste prevention. Disassembly and repair should be accessible to all; any specialised tools must be easily available to end users, providers of repair services, remanufacturers and preparing-for-reuse operators. MWE also introduces an amendment to the reparability criteria, clarifying that access and ability to repair is not restricted to the manufacturer or dealer but is also available to independent repairers. Multiple independent repair networks already exist throughout the EU, preventing waste and providing jobs; these must be supported and extended to make repair and reuse the norm instead of the current norm: disposal and purchase of a new product. This, together with an explicit ban on harmful design practices would help put an end to the wasting of valuable resources, decrease waste generation and support consumers' right to repair while supporting business models based on waste prevention rather than 'take-makewaste'.
The Commission proposes an Ecodesign Forum whose task it will be to develop the delegated acts, however mainly manufacturers are outlined as its members. MWE proposes an amendment to this article to include waste managers, municipalities and other relevant economic actors with the aim of ensuring that delegated acts are developed in a transparent manner that takes the needs of the entire value chain into account.