EU ecodesign directive | Inside track

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Three simple ways European product design can help eliminate poverty abroad

Posted on 28 July, 2017 by Green Alliance blog Leave a comment

This post is by Richard Gower, senior associate for economics and policy at Tearfund. This post first appeared on Tearfund’s policy blog.

In poor nations, millions of people already make their living from ‘circular’ trades such as repair and recycling. The way we design our products in the EU – the toxic chemicals we permit and the ease of repair that we require – has a strong influence over their livelihoods. But these impacts are not currently considered as part of the process for setting design standards.

Don’t hate me because I’m European: why you should be glad the EU banned the incandescent light bulb

Posted on 3 September, 2012 by Green Alliance blog 4 comments

This post is by Dustin Benton, who leads Green Alliance’s Resource Stewardship theme. A version first appeared on businessgreen.com.

To find out more about how to fix ecodesign, see Green Alliance’s new report: Cutting Britain’s Energy Bill.

President Obama had a hard time selling the US’s ‘weatherization program’ to a sceptical Congress: insulation is a lot less attractive than visible clean tech like solar panels. So he relied on his charm, declaring memorably that insulation was, in fact, sexy. “Here’s what’s sexy about it — saving money,” he said, to laughter and applause. Read more

Why ecodesign makes economic sense

Posted on 27 June, 2012 by Green Alliance blog One comment

This post is by Tom Turnbull, Green Alliance policy adviser, who has been focusing on ecodesign and our work with the European Coolproducts campaign.

I’ve just returned from Brussels, where amongst the string of events that make up EU Sustainable Energy Week, which was admittedly somewhat eclipsed by Rio, I joined a group of campaigners putting forward the case for the ‘forgotten’ EU energy directive. The forgotten directive is 2009/125/EC, aka the ecodesign directive. Its principle aim is to remove the worst performing products from the market and it has been beset with delays, controversy, and a general lack of a perceived cool factor.

As a member of the Coolproducts campaign, Green Alliance has been working with European NGOs to change this. We are working to raise the profile of the directive, and make policy makers, businesses, and consumers aware of the power that well-designed product policy has to drive the market for innovative low energy using products. These offer the combined benefits of lower energy bills and considerable carbon savings.