Tags:B2B, B2C, circular economy, durability, Ecodesign for Sustainable Regulation, Energy labeling, Environmental benefit, environmental objectives, ESPR, European commission, Material efficiency aspects, PCR, product and systems’ life cycles, Product Specific Rules, PSR, regulation, repairability index, Right to repair, sustainable economy and Value management
Abstract:
Facing the European environment Regulation tsunami with Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation (ESPR), the United States Right to Repair (R2R) jurisprudence and laws, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are struggling with some new challenges for the next decade. On one hand, countries are creating specific regulations to protect the environment and consumers. The French Repair Index is the first example followed by other countries such as Belgium and Argentina. The European Commission is also reinforcing its regulation through consumer protection by creating a suite of regulations on the Environment. The Energy Labeling and Ecodesign directive enlarges its perimeter for concerned product groups with additional criteria. On the other hand, the standardization activity is implementing product-specific rules for Life Cycle Assessment and the latest revisions are implementing rules to assess material efficiency aspects for dedicated products. This article aims to establish projections on industrial power electronics products, based on the study of regulation already available for Business-to-Consumers (B2C) products. In order to maximize the impact, the material efficiency topics should be hierarchized. In conclusion, this study proposes to use environmental value analysis to prioritize for each product group the most relevant material efficiency topic. Based on value management, this methodology compares the material efficiency topics one to another to achieve a ranking of the environmental functions by environmental benefit, customer interest, and economic viability. The value analysis may be introduced into a product-specific rules standard for material efficiency, justifying for a product group, like variable speed drive, the list of relevant material efficiency items.
Industrialization of the French Repair Index – Overview of the Regulations, Analysis of the B2C Constraints and Conclusion