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Ecodesign of products
The aim of ecological designing, or ecodesign, is to ensure that consumers have access to products with high energy efficiency performance but low environmental impact. Ecodesign requirements integrate environmental aspects and life-cycle thinking into the product design phase.
In practice, ecodesign requirements usually concern products’ energy consumption during use and gradually become stricter.
If a product does not meet the applicable ecodesign requirements it cannot be placed on the market or put into service in the EU.
Regulation covers numerous product groups
The ecodesign framework is laid down at EU level by the Ecodesign Directive and at national level by the Ecodesign Act and Decree. The requirements included in these instruments only apply to product groups for which binding, product-group specific ecodesign regulations have been adopted in the EU. Regulations concerning individual product groups are directly applicable in all EU countries.
Specific requirements have been set for numerous product groups from washing machines to electric motors. More information on the regulated product groups is available on the ekosuunnittelu.info website (in Finnish).
When the Ecodesign Directive was recast in 2009, its scope was extended from energy-using products to also include products that are indirectly related to the use of energy (such as windows). Thus, in the future, design requirements can be set for a wider range of products.
Further information: mikko.paloneva(at)tem.fi