With Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, EU Will Impose Ecodesign Requirements on Virtually All Products Sold in EU

On June 28, 2024, the EU published the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) (available here). The ESPR signifies a major step in the EU’s objective to increase product sustainability in the EU and boost the circular economy. The ESPR replaces the Ecodesign Directive of 2009, expanding its product scope and its obligations from energy efficiency to product sustainability more broadly.

The ESPR will introduce sustainability (so called “ecodesign”) requirements for virtually all products sold on the EU market, including a requirement to contain a digital product passport (DPP) containing publicly available sustainability information. The EU Commission is mandated to develop the specific ecodesign requirements per product category, starting with priority products identified by their significant environmental impact. The ESPR also imposes obligations on so-called substances of concern as well as on goods that remain unsold, including reporting obligations and a ban on destruction, starting with apparel and footwear.

The Commission will establish ecodesign requirements according to a working plan, announced for 2025, with a first set of ecodesign requirements planned for 2027–28. The working plan will identify the prioritized product for setting ecodesign requirements and the estimated timelines for the adoption of the requirements. The reporting obligations on unsold goods will start in mid-2025, with the ban on unsold apparel and footwear from 2026.

Companies are advised to start aligning their operations with ESPR and to engage with the EU on designing specific ecodesign and DPP requirements for their products.

Scope

The ESPR has a broad product scope: it covers virtually all products, components, and intermediary products (and integrated digital content) placed on the EU market, including imported products.

Certain products are exempt from the scope of the ESPR: (1) products for which ecodesign requirements are not suitable or necessary to contribute to sustainability and (2) products whose sustainability aspects are adequately addressed by other EU laws. Exempted products include food and feed, medicinal products, vehicles (except e-bikes and e-scooters), veterinary products, living plants, animals and microorganisms, and products of plants and animals related to their reproduction.

The ESPR imposes obligations on manufacturers as well as importers and distributors operating within the EU market.

Key obligations

1. Ecodesign requirements

The ESPR will set ecodesign requirements to make products more environmentally sustainable in line with the EU’s Green Deal and circular economy objectives. The Commission will adopt these ecodesign requirements per specific product group (e.g., household washing machines) or horizontally across a broader product group (e.g., electronic appliances). The ecodesign requirements aim to improve product sustainability in terms of durability, reusability, repairability, energy efficiency, recyclability, and carbon and environmental footprints.

The ecodesign requirements will take the form of:

1. Performance requirements: quantitative or qualitative requirements on a product to achieve a certain performance level, in light of a list of 20 potential parameters (relating, e.g., to durability, reusability, repairability, energy efficiency, recyclability, and carbon and environmental footprints) and/or
2. Information requirements: information must be made available, as specified for a product category, (i) on product performance (see (1), above); (ii) for customers and other actors on how to use, maintain, and repair products; (iii) for treatment facilities on disassembly, reuse, refurbishment, recycling, or disposal; and (iv) other information that could influence sustainable product choices by customers.

If, for some product groups, the EU Commission decides to impose only information requirements (not performance requirements), the Commission will justify this decision.

As next steps, the Commission is expected to adopt the first ESPR Working Plan in March 2025, previewing initial measures and products to be targeted. Based on this plan, the first ESPR ecodesign requirements are expected to be released in 2026.

2. Obligations on substances of concern

The ESPR introduces specific requirements for so-called substances of concern (SoC). SoC cover the following:

1. A closed list of substances identified in other EU laws, that is, (1) substances of very high concern (SVHC) designated under REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals), (2) substances that are classified under the harmonized classification of the Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation, and (3) persistent organic pollutants (POPs) regulated under Regulation (EU) 2019/1021.
2. An open list of additional SoC, which are considered of concern from a sustainability perspective; the Commission is empowered to designate as SoC substances that negatively affect the reuse and recycling of materials in specific products and will designate these substances in separate delegated acts using a product-specific approach.

The SoC requirements will take the form of:

1. Information requirements: All SoCs will be tracked with information in the digital product passport (DPP). This aims to provide consumers and waste management operators with information about the presence and concentration of SoCs in a product, such as for recycling purposes.
2. Restrictions: The ESPR includes the possibility to impose restrictions on those SoCs that negatively affect a product’s sustainability, such as durability and recyclability.

3. Digital Product Passport

The ESPR will introduce a DPP for all in-scope products to make product sustainability information available to consumers and authorities. Similar to the ecodesign requirements, the DPP will follow a product category approach. Accordingly, the Commission will specify in delegated acts which information has to be disclosed in the DPP for each product group. In principle, the information can include a unique product identifier, the Global Trade Identification Number (GTIN); user manuals; EU declarations of conformity; technical documentation and information for consumer and other operators on product maintenance and repair. The DPP information will be stored in a central DPP registry with a searchable web portal accessible to consumers and authorities.

The DPP will be technologically neutral, that is, without a prescribed method to comply with the requirement. In practice, the DPP will take the form of a data carrier (e.g., QR code) physically present on the product or packaging or on accompanying information, meeting certain minimum standards. Other entities on the value chain, including the consumer, will be able to scan the data carrier and access the data. The Commission will publish technical DPP standards to guide companies and DPP providers by December 31, 2025.

Products without a DPP will not be allowed on the EU market. Imports into the EU will have to provide the DPP for verification by customs authorities during the customs procedure for release for free circulation into the EU.

The DPP obligations under the ESPR are aligned with other EU regulations that have already introduced DPPs and will share the DPP infrastructure put in place under the ESPR (e.g., the Batteries Regulation, the Critical Raw Materials Act, the Toys Regulation, the Detergents Regulation, and the Construction Products Regulation).

4. Obligations on unsold goods

The ESPR also introduces obligation in relation to unsold goods. Companies will have to report the quantities of unsold goods that are discarded and take measures to prevent their destruction. The ESPR also introduces a ban on the destruction of categories of unsold goods in the EU that are specified in an annex to the ESPR.

At the time of adoption, the annex covers apparel and footwear, with the option to add products in the future (e.g., electronics). The ban will start to apply from 2026 to large enterprises and from 2030 for medium-sized enterprises. Small and micro enterprises are exempted from the ban. The Commission will adopt an implementing act mid-2025 to clarify the product scope and the mechanisms to verify reported information.

Enforcement

The ESPR will be enforced by existing Market Surveillance Authorities and customs authorities of EU Member States. EU Member States will have to adopt a market surveillance plan to enforce the ESPR, specifying the nature and number of planned checks within their jurisdiction. Noncompliance with the ESPR will be subject to penalties to be decided by the EU Member States.