Recommendation 14

HM Government Not Addressed

[Combined response to recommendations 8 – 13] We thank the committee for their recommendations around driving better ecodesign and consumer information for electrical products. We recognise the importance of these measures given our overarching ambition to transition to a more circular economy in which we maximise the value of our resources for longer. Ecodesign is an essential part of this ambition and can help to minimise the impacts of products on the natural environment across their lifecycle. The government also shares the Committee’s desire to ensure that electronic and electrical equipment is designed to last and we agree that there is no place on the market for planned obsolescence of any sort. We have a range of policy measures in place and forthcoming which aim to increase product lifetimes and renew consumer confidence in the reliability and longevity of their purchases, thereby directly tackling premature obsolescence. BEIS has recently consulted on draft Ecodesign Regulations that, for the first time, include requirements that product manufacturers make available to repairers certain spare parts and information; and to improve the ease of disassembly in order to assist better material recovery at the end of a product’s life. Subject to the outcome of the consultation, these requirements will enter into force in Great Britain in 2021 (they will apply in Northern Ireland automatically under the Northern Ireland Protocol). The new requirements apply to certain white goods, such as household refrigerators and washing-machines, as well as televisions. Government will explore whether requirements to improve reparability and material efficiency could be considered for a wider range of products, for example covering modular design for repairs and upgrades. BEIS and Defra have jointly commissioned research which will underpin a prioritisation of product groups and horizontal measures, addressing both the resource and energy efficiency of electrical products to inform the development of future Ecodesign policy, and the Government has committed to launch a world class energy related products policy framework in 2021. We will push for products to use less energy, resources, and materials, saving carbon and helping households and businesses to reduce their energy bills with minimum effort. We are currently seeking powers in the Environment Bill to require the provision of specified information on resource efficiency for any product, including energy related products. Introducing labelling or information requirements means that we can specify the provision of certain information about products. This will help consumers and businesses make more sustainable purchasing decisions, and facilitate applications such as product passports, expected lifetimes and product reparability (for example a reparability rating, common faults and remedies, spare parts that are available and where to source, instructions for common repairs and upgrades, and so on). We are committed to ensuring that consumer safety considerations are taken on board as we try to go further in policy to support greater durability, repairability and recyclability of electrical products. Policy development will give due consideration to the interplay between consumer safety, intellectual property law and ecodesign. Finally, we will also explore whether and to what extent the principle of eco-modulation could be applied to the WEEE system to incentivise more ecodesign of electrical products. Applying this principle could mean that manufacturers who design their products to more sustainable have a modulated financial obligation under the WEEE Regulations. In our review of the WEEE Regulations, we will consult on how this principle could be best introduced in practice to incentivise better ecodesign of electrical products and how it might support our broader ecodesign policy, as outlined above.