EcoDesign in European Small and Medium Sized Enterprises of the Electrical and Electronics Sector Status Quo and the Road towards EuP

Ecodesign - or design for environment - is a concept followed by major players in the electrical and electronics sector for at least a decade, usually being part in the meantime of a broader sustainability strategy. However, the situation is different for small and medium sized enterprises: There are some encouraging business cases from SMEs, but ecodesign is far from being a concept well adopted by SMEs. In July 2005 the European energy-using products directive has been adopted and published, transferring EU's integrated product policy (IPP) for the first time into product related legislation. With the expected implementing measures, clearly ecodesign will become a "must" for the electronics industry serving the EU market. Therefore, there is a strong need, that SMEs adopt design for environment strategies in the near future to achieve EuP compliance