S.3 Ökodesign und Energieverbrauchskennzeichnung
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- 2019 (3) (entfernen)
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- Ecodesign (3) (entfernen)
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Whilst the concept of ecodesign is intended to account for the environmental impacts of the product across its whole lifecycle, European ecodesign policy to date has been heavily focused upon energy efficiency in the use phase. The Ecodesign Directive and Energy Labelling Regulation have achieved substantial energy savings since their inception. For many products, the magnitude of savings available from further tightening existing energy efficiency requirements is now often outweighed by savings that can be achieved by material efficiency requirements. Further, there are some products such as smartphones for which there are limited gains to be made in energy efficiency but for material efficiency. In the Commission’s Circular Economy Action Plan from 2015, a new direction was defined for ecodesign policy, to systematically examine considerations such as reparability, durability, upgradability, recyclability, or the identification of certain materials or substances. The Commission consequently issued a standardisation request (M/543, 2015) to the European Standardization Organisations (CEN / CENELEC / ETSI) to develop generic/horizontal standards relevant to energy-related products that address these major aspects of material efficiency. In this study we evaluate the potential contribution of these new standards (with specific focus on the standards for repair, durability and recyclability) to future developments under the European Ecodesign Directive. Opportunities for the impact of these standards to be enhanced by future work are highlighted.
Resource efficiency is a much discussed topic in terms of improving
the sustainability of energy related and energy non-related
products. Resource efficiency aspects such as the availability
of spare parts, the ability to dismantle, etc. have been included
in draft working documents in the revision of several already
existing Ecodesign regulations as a first step. However, often
these aspects are not consistent with the current technology and
design of these products. A possible reason could be a lack of
sufficient consultation or of a methodology which is sufficiently
tailored for this topic. The established strategies and tools, used
by policymakers, such as the Methodology for the Ecodesign
of Energy-related Products (MEErP), do not seem to deal with
these aspects appropriately. Draft requirements need to be very
well developed before being discussed with member states and
other related stakeholders, because including resource efficiency
parameters could lead to additional, very wide-ranging effects
on society. This topic cannot be covered well with legislative
tools developed primarily for energy aspects. In this paper, a
method is presented which can be used to combine products’
properties with crucial resource efficiency indicators. The method
can be used to develop a set of draft legislative requirements
and to pre-evaluate these requirements by target groups which
would be affected by additional legal requirements. These include:
market surveillance authorities, standardization organizations,
manufacturers and their associations, environmental
organizations and research facilities. The method incorporates
stakeholders’ feedback to identify potential resource efficiency
measures for materials and/or products, their impact on the
European ecology, economy and society. Based on this it would
help to develop legislative requirements which are feasible and
desirable. The results can then be fed into the formal legislative
process, probably speeding it up.
Resource efficiency is a much discussed topic in terms of improving the sustainability of energy related and energy non-related products. Resource efficiency aspects such as the availability of spare parts, the ability to dismantle, etc. have been included in draft working documents in the revision of several already existing Ecodesign regulations as a first step. However, often these aspects are not consistent with the current technology and design of these products. A possible reason could be a lack of sufficient consultation or of a methodology which is sufficiently tailored for this topic. The established strategies and tools, used by policymakers, such as the Methodology for the Ecodesign of Energy-related Products (MEErP), do not seem to deal with these aspects appropriately. Draft requirements need to be very well developed before being discussed with member states and other related stakeholders, because including resource efficiency parameters could lead to additional, very wide-ranging effects on society. This topic cannot be covered well with legislative tools developed primarily for energy aspects. In this paper, a method is presented which can be used to combine products’ properties with crucial resource efficiency indicators. The method can be used to develop a set of draft legislative requirements and to pre-evaluate these requirements by target groups which would be affected by additional legal requirements. These include: market surveillance authorities, standardization organizations, manufacturers and their associations, environmental organizations and research facilities. The method incorporates stakeholders’ feedback to identify potential resource efficiency measures for materials and/or products, their impact on the European ecology, economy and society. Based on this it would help to develop legislative requirements which are feasible and desirable. The results can then be fed into the formal legislative process, probably speeding it up.