GEN – 960.00. The European Commission is developing its ‘Circular Economy’ policy. In the first instance, it addresses consumer goods, but it is planned to be extended to other goods. The revision of the Methodology for Ecodesign of Energy-related Products (MEErP) will start in 2019 and will be modified to contain elements of the ‘Circular Economy’, including reparability.
Context and background
Reparability is one aspect that will be in the focus for future developments. As usual, it starts with consumer goods, but the initial questionnaires extend to installed products (e.g. boiler, heat pump, air conditioning appliances) and with time it would extend to all products subject to Ecodesign.
The revision of the MEErP that will start in 2019 must be monitored closely to evaluate the possible impacts. Hence, there is the need to monitor the two ongoing projects, the one on reparability and the other on material efficiency aspect. Both are expected to generate product specific requirements. The final reports of both studies should become available at the end of 2018.
Approach for scoring the reparability/upgradability of products
On 8 November 2018, the second stakeholder meeting took place. It was not attended by Eurovent, because, even when in the future the reparability will become an issue, the initial products that are analysed are laptops, vacuum cleaners and washing machines.
As mentioned in GEN – 930.00, at first sight, this would not relate to professional and B2B products. The presentation by JRC is enclosed to understand the philosophy behind the approach, as the discussion could evolve and impact maintenance and repair of professional products and installations.
The minutes of the 8 November meeting will be shared when they become available.
Recommended actions
Because of the possible (and with time likely) extension of the reparability principle to other products, manufacturers and associations are recommended to take note of the principles that are developed in the reparability study. The final report should become available at the end of the year.
Related documents and links
All related documents and articles can be found in the respective sections in the right sidebar.
- GEN – 960.01 – DG Environment presentation 8 November 2018
- GEN – 930.00 – Previous update on reparability
- Reparability project website: http://susproc.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ScoringSystemOnReparability/index.html
- Circularity project website: http://susproc.jrc.ec.europa.eu/E4C/index.html
