The European Parliament approved on Tuesday, April 23, new rules to make products sold in the EU more reusable, repairable, upgradeable and recyclable, according to Euractiv.
Leading Ecodesign MP Alessandra Moretti from Italy claimed that it was “time to put an end to the ‘take, make, throw away’ model that is so harmful to our planet, our health and our economy.”
A key element of the Green Deal, the revised Ecodesign regulation is part of a circular economy package that aims to make the EU use and reuse materials much more efficiently. The package also contributes to the EU’s goal of achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and should reduce environmental damage.
According to Eurostat, just fewer than 13% of materials were recycled and reintroduced into the European economy in 2020. The new ecodesign rules will update the current 2009 directive, which dealt exclusively with energy-related products. This text led to a 10% reduction in the annual energy consumption of the products concerned.
The law passed by Parliament calls on the Commission to give priority to resource-intensive sectors, such as iron, steel, aluminium, textiles, furniture, tyres, detergents, paints, lubricants and chemicals. However, cars are excluded from regulation under the agreement reached between the European institutions.
To incentivise recycling, economic operators will have to declare annually the number of products discarded and the reasons for their destruction.
The rule specifically prohibits the destruction of unsold clothing, clothing accessories and footwear two years after the law comes into force. In the future, the Commission will be able to add additional categories to the list of unsold products that cannot be destroyed.
The text now needs final approval by national governments to be transposed into EU law.
