The European Council announced today the approval by member states of regulations for a new “Ecodesign” framework to establish sustainability requirements for nearly all products across the EU, as well as a new ban on the destruction of unsold textiles and footwear.

The announcement by the EU Council marks the last major step towards the final adoption of the new regulation, following the approval by the European Parliament of the new Ecodesign rules in April.

The adoption of the new rules follows an initial proposal by the European Commission in March 2022 to set rules to improve the sustainability profile of a wide category of products, including making them more environmentally friendly, circular, and energy-efficient through their lifecycle, by replacing the existing 2009 Ecodesign directive, which was limited to energy-related products.

The updated regulation empowers the Commission to set ecodesign requirements for products to improve their environmental sustainability, across nearly all product categories, with exclusions including motor vehicles, which are covered by separate legislation, and products that have an impact on defense or national security. Sustainability aspects covered under the updated regulation range from product durability, reusability, upgradability and reparability, and the use of substances that inhibit circularity, to energy and resource efficiency, recycled content, remanufacturing and recycling, and products’ carbon and environmental footprints.

The regulation also directs the establishment of a new “Digital Product Passport,” aimed at helping consumers and businesses to make informed choices when purchasing products, by providing information about products’ environmental sustainability, and calls on the Commission to manage a public web portal enabling consumers to search and compare information included in product passports.

The new rules prohibiting the destruction of unsold textiles and footwear will be applicable two years after the regulation’s entry into force, with exemptions for small and micro companies, and a 6-year exemption for medium sized companies. The regulation allows for additional product categories to be added to the unsold product destruction ban, and also requires reporting on the quantities of unsold goods that are destroyed and the reasons for their destruction.

The EU has adopted the ecodesign regulation.

The new rules:
set environmental sustainability requirements for almost all kinds of goods on the EU market
establish a digital product passport
prohibit the destruction of certain unsold consumer goods

— EU Council (@EUCouncil) May 27, 2024