Ecodesign Regulation and Design: What Changes for Professionals

The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) will redefine the criteria by which physical products are designed, manufactured, and placed on the market within the European Union. Published in 2024, it introduces broader requirements compared to Directive 2009/125/EC, expanding its scope and including innovative tools such as repairability criteria and more extensive information obligations. Let us examine the sectors that will be affected first and the impact in terms of more structured processes, greater traceability, and sustainability across the entire product life cycle.

The introduction of the Ecodesign Directive in 2009 was the first step toward a more harmonized framework, through which the EU aimed to define minimum design requirements to improve the sustainability of products on the European market. This regulatory framework aims to reduce environmental impact throughout a product's life cycle by devising and applying measurable and verifiable criteria.

Directive 2009/125/EC has been replaced by Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, published in the Official Journal on June 28, 2024, and entering into force on July 18, 2024. By replacing the previous directive, this new regulation significantly expands its field of action.

While the 2009 Ecodesign Directive focused on energy-related products, the current EU Ecodesign Regulation extends obligations to almost every physical product, excluding only food, feed, medicinal products, and a few other categories. This shift aligns with contemporary challenges, responding to the need for a systemic approach to sustainability that will eventually involve all production chains.

Furthermore, the new regulation amends Directive (EU) 2020/1828 on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers and Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 concerning batteries and waste batteries.

In doing so, the Ecodesign Regulation becomes a more comprehensive tool for guiding the ecological transition of European businesses, with an objective similar to that of the "Green Homes" legislation regarding the ecological transition of buildings.

The primary goal of Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 is to improve the repairability, reusability, and recyclability of products to reduce waste generation and enhance overall environmental performance throughout their life cycle.

To this end, the regulation establishes harmonized procedures for defining ecodesign requirements through subsequent implementing acts by the European Commission. These new specifications must be applied after a minimum period of 18 months from their entry into force and will be binding for all manufacturers wishing to place products on the European market.

Key innovations introduced include:

• The Digital Product Passport (DPP) to ensure traceability and transparency;

• Mandatory requirements for Green Public Procurement (GPP);

• New criteria to prevent the destruction of unsold products;

• Advanced information obligations for the benefit of users and consumers.

The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation will be implemented through ESPR Working Plans. The plan covering the 2025–2030 period has identified the first sectors of application: textiles and apparel, furniture, tyres, and mattresses.

The selection criteria for these initial sectors are linked to their environmental impact; the provisions will be progressively extended to an increasing number of product categories. Alongside these, the working group has established two cross-cutting criteria: repairability scores and requirements for recycled content in electrical and electronic devices.

These innovations, such as the DPP, follow in the footsteps of initiatives like the PEP - Product Environmental Profile already adopted by Gewiss. This profile provides Type III environmental declarations for products in the electrical, electronic, heating, and cooling industries, in accordance with the requirements of the international standard ISO 14025.

The new Ecodesign Regulation stipulates that specific requirements be defined via delegated acts for homogeneous product groups. As mentioned, the scope will progressively expand from the industrial sectors identified in the first ESPR 2025–2030 Work Plan to other high-impact sectors, such as steel, electronics, chemicals, and mobility.

Industrial plants will be required to integrate sustainability criteria at every stage of design, prioritizing more repairable components, lower-impact materials, and the reduction of emissions associated with the life cycle.

The Ecodesign Regulation also affects electric motors, as they are energy-related products already included in the 2022–2024 Plan across 35 categories of Energy-Related Products. Sixteen of these categories have been integrated into the new ESPR 2025–2030 Work Plan, including electric motors, for which the adoption of new specifications is expected in 2028.

For the electric mobility sector, this means more stringent requirements for durability, energy efficiency, and recycled content, leading to deeper integration between technical design and environmental assessments, with direct and profound changes to supply chains and manufacturing processes.

Within the National Strategy for the Circular Economy, adopted in 2022, ecodesign was already identified as a priority tool for preventing waste production. To support the application of the new regulation, the Ecodesign Table was established in 2024 to assist competent administrations and promote initiatives throughout the product life cycle.

The main objectives of the National Strategy for the Circular Economy are thus aligned with the provisions of the Ecodesign Regulation observed so far:

• Development of the market for secondary raw materials;

• Strengthening of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR);

• A tax system more favorable to the circular economy transition;

• Extension of product lifespan and repairability;

• Widespread adoption of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodologies;

• Improved traceability of waste flows.

 

In other words, the Ecodesign Regulation and national circular economy goals share many common points that reinforce the link between design, sustainability and climate targets—another significant signal of the central role of sustainable design in a broader vision of a regenerative economy.