Influence of Environmental European Product Policies on Product Design-current Status and Future Developments

Abstract

Great environmental impacts along the life cycle of products might be avoided in the early steps of design. Thus several EU regulations encourage manufacturers to create products considering the whole life cycle of products. European Product Policies aim at boosting the EU market to be progressively more sustainable by setting product's specific thresholds. With this purpose, several policies that are product-related coexist under the scope of different EU regulations, for example: Ecodesign Directive, Labelling Directive, Green Public Procurement or EU Ecolabel. There are relevant aspects of these policies instruments which need to be considered towards an efficient, future oriented and more sustainable design of products. The objective of this paper is to assess how these product policies currently affect the design of products. An initial analysis presents the main technical relevant criteria for designers of such mandatory and voluntary policies. To anticipate to future environmental requirements leads business to competitive advantages. The analysis shows that the four EU product policies are dynamic and potentially synergetic although several aspects need to be further explored such as the scope extension of product groups, the non-energy aspects or the product systems’ link.