Ecodesign
The aim of ecological design is to ensure that consumers have access to products with high energy efficiency and low environmental impact. The requirements of Ecodesign regulations combine the environmental aspects and life cycle thinking of products already at the product design stage. The manufacturer is responsible for ensuring that the product complies with the ecodesign regulations.
The EU's Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (Ecodesign Regulation) entered into force on 18 July 2024. The regulation is directly applicable in all Member States, replacing the Ecodesign Directive in stages. The directive and the legislation based on it will remain in force alongside the new regulation for some time. Like the directive, the Ecodesign Regulation is framework legislation. Further requirements are laid down in the Commission's delegated acts for product groups or products.
Ecodesign regulations set requirements that improve the energy efficiency of products or reduce their environmental impact, such as material efficiency, circular economy, sustainability, repairability or use of recycled materials. If a product does not meet the applicable ecodesign requirements, it cannot be placed on the market or put into service in the EU.
Application of Ecodesign regulations
The Ecodesign Directive applies to household and industrial electrical appliances and other energy-related products (such as construction products) for which a product group-specific implementing measure has been drawn up, usually a Commission Regulation.
There are implementing measures for dozens of product groups. Products that meet the requirements are covered by the CE marking, and the applicable implementing measure must be mentioned in the EU declaration of conformity of the product.
For product-specific requirements and more information on the Ecodesign Directive, see the ekosuunnittelu.info website (in Finnish).
In the future, the requirements of the new Ecodesign Regulation will apply not only to energy-related products but also to almost all physical products other than food, feed, medicinal products for human and veterinary use, living plants and animals, products of human origin and products of plants and animals relating directly to their future reproduction.
The new Ecodesign Regulation already lays down requirements at the regulation level for a Digital Product Passport and a ban on the destruction of unsold consumer products, for example.
Legislative requirements
The requirements are set out in the product-specific regulations, which are slightly different for each product group. They may concern both product characteristics and product information. Requirements and limit values have been provided, for example, for the following:
- Operating power consumption
- Stand-by power consumption
- Efficiency
- Water consumption
- Sound power levels
- Emissions
- Serviceability and availability of spare parts
- Labelling on the product
- Information in the product instructions
- Information in the technical documentation of the product
- Information on freely access websites
Conformity assessment
Before a product is placed on the market, the company must ensure that it complies with the requirements. To assess the conformity of electrical equipment, the manufacturer may use either the internal design control system set out in Annex IV or the management system set out in Annex V of the Ecodesign Directive.
The actual requirements are laid down in the product-specific regulations. Many harmonised standards have been published for the demonstration of compliance, which can be found on the product-specific pages of the ekosuunnittelu.info website. If there is no harmonised standard, tests can be carried out using the most suitable assessment method available. Testing is not mandatory in conformity assessment, but demonstrating compliance is often difficult by other means.
In addition to assessing the conformity of the characteristics and labelling of the actual product, the entrepreneur should note that requirements have also been set for technical documentation and other information on the product. For many products, more detailed technical information and instructions on how to maintain and dispose of the product, for example, must be provided on free access websites.
It should also be noted that the EU declaration of conformity of products covered by Ecodesign regulations must specify both the directive and the product-specific regulation.
How to ensure conformity
- Check any product-specific requirements on the ekosuunnittelu.info website.
- Check conformity using measurement methods that are considered most reliable and reproducible, e.g. harmonised standards.
- Prepare the necessary technical documentation and EU declaration of conformity and store them for 10 years.
- Affix the CE mark to the product and other required markings for each product.