Getting the Priorities Right in Material Efficiency: From the Ecodesign Directive to the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation

In 2022, a proposal for the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) was published with the aim to repeal the Ecodesign Directive after a transitional period. This is not a “farewell” to ecodesign requirements but instead a welcome to new ecodesign legislation covering a broader range of product groups and more types of policy measures. Besides, the ESPR has a focus on circularity and material efficiency, which has also been strengthened in recent years in the requirements under the current Ecodesign Directive. Therefore, when embarking on the new journey of the ESPR, this paper analyses and reflects on what has been learned during nearly 20 years with the Ecodesign Directive by examining the material efficiency journey of the Directive and how the learnings from this journey can be used in the ESPR. More specifically, the paper analyses the existing material efficiency requirements in the adopted implementing measures and the preparatory studies for the horizontal implementing measures on material efficiency. These are discussed according to a material value hierarchy in the draft standard EN 45560. The paper concludes with some recommendations to how and which material efficiency requirements to prioritize in the ESPR.