Rethinking the Ecodesign Policy Mix in Europe
In the European Union (EU), there are a large number of mandatory and voluntary policies applied to improve the environmental life cycle impacts of products. Policies are enacted at both the EU level and among the EU member states, and there is a need to
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Abstract In the European Union (EU), there are a large number of mandatory and voluntary policies applied to improve the environmental life cycle impacts of products. Policies are enacted at both the EU level and among the EU member states, and there is a need to develop a better coordination between the various policies. This contribution outlines the various policies and examines various conceptual approaches to coordination. It further outlines some future policy challenges. Keywords Product policy • Life cycle • Life cycle thinking • Policy mix • European Union
1 Introduction The number of policy instruments for inducing ecodesign and product life cycle improvements has increased in the last decades [1, 2], and the European Union has become a leader in standard setting [3]. Early policies included extended producer responsibility rules, chemical content obligations, and eco-labeling schemes. Over time these rules have developed and been complemented with rules related to ecodesign and energy efficiency, public procurement, and energy labeling. Also the focus of these rules has changed over time. For instance, the Ecodesign Directive [4] has mainly been applied to set minimum requirements for product energy efficiency – like the Top Runner program in Japan – but has lately been used to set criteria to increase product longevity and induce resource efficiency [5]. While there is a need for many different types of policies, the large number of policies can be confusing. The fact that some policies and laws are enacted at the EU level whereas some are applied at the member state (national level) can add to this confusion. An important policy issue is therefore how the various policies should be coordinated and for what purposes. In this contribution, we will outline the various types of policies. We will then discuss various approaches toward
C. Dalhammar (*) IIIEE, Lund University, Lund, Sweden e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Japan 2017 M. Matsumoto et al. (eds.), Sustainability Through Innovation in Product Life Cycle Design, EcoProduction, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0471-1_37
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coordination at the conceptual level and provide examples of how this is done in practice. Finally, we will provide some general recommendations on how the coordination could be improved.
2 The Policy Mix in the European Union 2.1
Types of Policies
When it comes to binding regulations, these are set at the EU level and can be categorized into three main categories. One category concerns chemicals in products. The EU regulates this for specific types of products, with regulations for several product groups including electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), toys, packaging, and building products. There is also horizontal legislation in place that covers a wide number of product groups, most notable through standard set in the main EU chemical regulation, the REACH [6]. REACH will have an indirect impact on chemicals in products as it sets standards for chemicals in several ways. If a chemical is phas
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