Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) 

The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) entered into force on 18 July 2024. It is defined by the European Commission as the cornerstone of the EU approach to more environmentally sustainable and circular products. It enables the development of performance and information requirements known as “ecodesign requirements” for most physical goods to improve their durability, reusability, upgradability and reparability; make them more energy and resource-efficient; address the presence of substances that inhibit circularity; increase their recycled content; make them easier to remanufacture and recycle; improve the availability of information on product sustainability. 

The ESPR also contains provisions aimed to disclose information on the discard of unsold consumer products and ban this practice for specific product categories. These rules aim to reduce this practice. 

The regulation also introduces a Digital Product Passport, a digital “identity card” which will store information useful to support products’ sustainability and circularity. This information will be selectively accessible to consumers, manufacturers, and authorities to make informed decisions about sustainability, circularity and regulatory compliance. 

The ESPR is part of the broader 2020 Circular Economy Action Plan and is a framework legislation, meaning that concrete product ecodesign requirements, provisions on the disclosure of unsold consumer products, and rules governing the Digital Product Passport will be develop progressively on a product-by-product basis or horizontally when applicable. 

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