Since July 2024, new rules for product design have been in force in Europe. All product groups must be designed to be both more energy-efficient and more circular. Manufacturers must provide clear information about this. The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) aims to make sustainable products the norm in the European Union.

Ecodesign for all products

The ESPR replaces and builds on the Ecodesign Directive from 2009 (Directive 2009/125/EC). Whereas the old regulations were intended to promote the energy efficiency of electrical and electronic devices, the ESPR applies to virtually every product group. In addition, there will be minimum requirements for circularity, such as service life, reparability, and recycling.

Introduction of Digital Product Passport

The ESPR introduces two types of requirements: ecodesign and information requirements. The ecodesign requirements are intended to improve the environmental performance of products. The information requirements are intended to guarantee transparency, including through the introduction of a digital product passport (DPP). Only a few product groups, such as food, medicines, and motor vehicles, are exempt from this.

The ecodesign requirements are determined on the basis of relevant product parameters such as:

• Sustainability and reliability of the product
• Ease of repair and maintenance
• Ease of upgrading, reuse, remanufacturing, and refurbishment
• Ease and quality of recycling
• Consumption of energy, water, and other resources
• Recycled material content
• Carbon, environmental, and material footprint of the product

The information requirements set conditions for the available product information in a product passport, the presence of substances of concern, and the performance of the product on the specified product parameters.

As a company, you can already prepare by recording data on the product parameters specified in Annex 1 of the ESPR and by documenting the underlying design choices.

How can we support you?

As industrial designers, our circular economy experts have years of experience in eco-design. We can help you make strategic choices to meet eco-design requirements, such as extending service life, repair, upgrading, optimizing design for recycling, and using recycled materials.

We can provide insight into the environmental impact of your product by performing a life cycle analysis, and based on a hotspot analysis, we can help improve the environmental performance of your design. In addition, we perform circularity scans: how circular are you already, and where are the opportunities for improvement? We can support your designers by developing custom ecodesign tools. And we can monitor and evaluate your performance.