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General rules
Among other things, the Commission will:
-apply the Ecodesign Directive principles beyond energy-related products. In addition, there will be a new Ecodesign and Energy Labelling Working Plan 2020-2024 for individual product groups;
-lay down minimum requirements for sustainability labels/logos and for information tools in order to fight green washing and premature obsolescence;
-introduce a “right to repair”;
-propose minimum mandatory green public procurement criteria and targets in sectoral legislation;
-review the Industrial Emissions Directive and certification systems for industries;
-register the EU Environmental Technology Verification scheme as an EU certification mark.
Electronics and ICT
The Commission identified key product value chains for Circular Economy; "electronics and ICT" is one of them. The Commission will present a “Circular Electronics Initiative” which will promote long product lifetimes. This initiative will include:
-regulatory measures for electronics and ICT, including mobile phones, tablets and laptops under the Ecodesign Directive. These measures will focus on energy efficiency, durability, reparability, upgradability, maintenance, reuse and recycling. This sector will be a priority sector for the right to repair, including the right to update obsolete software;
-regulatory measures to introduce a common charger for mobile phones and similar devices;
-initiatives to improve collection and treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment, including a potential EU-wide take back scheme to return or sell back old mobile phones, tablets and chargers.;
-review of EU rules on restrictions of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.
Batteries and vehicles
Batteries and vehicles are another key product value chain in the Action Plan.
The Commission will propose a new regulatory framework for batteries in the shape of a legislative proposal. This proposal will build on the evaluation of the Batteries Directive and the work of the Batteries Alliances. The proposal will include:
-rules on recycled content for batteries to ensure recovery of valuable materials;
-address non-rechargeable batteries, which should progressively be phased out where alternatives exist;
-sustainability and transparency requirements for batteries in terms of carbon footprint, ethical sourcing of raw materials, security of supply etc.;
Regarding vehicles, the Commission will propose rules on end-of-life of vehicles to promote circular business models. Design should be linked to end-of-life treatment, considering rules on mandatory recycled content for certain materials and components.
The future Comprehensive European Strategy on Sustainable and Smart Mobility will apply product-as-service solutions to reduce virgin material consumption and optimise infrastructure.
EU market for secondary raw materials
The Commission wants to establish a well-functioning internal market for secondary raw materials. It will notably enhance the role of standardisation. It will also explore the feasibility of establishing a market observatory for key secondary materials
European Dataspace for Smart Circular Applications
The Commission will establish a European Dataspace for Smart Circular Applications. This Dataspace will provide the architecture and governance system to drive applications and services such as product passports, resource mapping and consumer information.
Next steps
Pages 26 and 27 of the Action Plan contain a useful timeline for the key actions that will be undertaken in the coming months.
Eurosmart’s issue tracker: The issue tracker is updated accordingly. You can find it here. Do not hesitate to ask for your personal access.
For any question on this issue, do not hesitate to contact Camille Dornier: camille.dornier@eurosmart.com
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