On the 16th November, Bellona Europa has responded to the Sustainable products initiative, which will revise the Ecodesign Directive and propose additional legislative measures  to make products placed on the EU market more sustainable.

Consumers, the environment and the climate will benefit from products that are more durable, reusable, repairable, recyclable, and energy-efficient. Bellona Europa welcomes  the Sustainable Product Policy Initiative’s intention to assess the true environmental impact of products and correct existing market failures which do not take into account their externalities. The initiative will addresses the presence of harmful chemicals in products such as electronics & ICT equipment, textiles,furniture, steel, cement & chemicals. Our response specifically looks into the latter products listed.

Many externalities related to manufactured goods, such as climate impacts, are significant yet not taken into account. As such, they should be taken into account. In addition to informing consumers, internalising climate impacts would allow steel, cement and chemicals industries to create new markets and pursue more ambitious climate action strategies.

• Establish clear metrics
• Make links to relevant policies and synchronise efforts on sustainable products with targeted, sectoral action.
• Prioritising long lifecycles and value retention.
• The monitoring and verification of information

Please find our detailed response below: