Sustainability Services | Regulatory Update | February 2024

This order aims to complete the list of products subject to the opening of an accreditation program for certification of the European Union ecological label. The list is as follow:

1. Cosmetic and care products for animals;
2. Textile detergents;
3. Hand dishwashing detergents;
4. Dishwasher detergents;
5. Detergents for industrial dishwashers or intended for communities;
6. Textile detergents for industrial use or intended for communities;
7. Hard surface cleaning products;
8. Growing media and soil conditioners;
9. Absorbent hygienic protection products and reusable menstrual cups;
10. Interior or exterior paints and varnishes.

Its main points are:

• More accurate and reliable advertising
• Durability in focus

The next steps is the approval from the European Council and after that it will be published in the Official Journal. Member states will have 24 months to transpose it into national law.

For more information, Consult the European Parliament website here.

The Commission will revise the watch list of surface water pollutants. This list aims to ensure that the levels of several potential chemical pollutants are monitored in surface waters across the Union, so that the risk they may pose is properly assessed and, if necessary, controlled through the appropriate means.

Its status is in preparation.

The Commission intends to update the list of hazardous chemicals subject to certain rules when internationally traded.

Its status is in preparation.

These Regulations amend the Packaging Waste (Data Reporting) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 (S.S.I. 2023/7) (the “principal Regulations”) to revise the definitions of “household packaging” and “exempt packaging”, and to clarify the division of responsibilities between brand owners, packer/fillers, importers and first UK owners, and distributors. These Regulations also amend the principal Regulations to require SEPA to publish a list of large producers and produce guidance in relation to the definition of “household packaging”, to require scheme operators to monitor the accuracy of the information provided by producers to a scheme and make other amendments. They come into force on the 1^st  April 2024.

The agreed legislation will make it easier for consumers to seek repair instead of replacement by making the access to repair services easier, faster, transparent, and more attractive.

The scope of the directive to those products for which the EU legislation lays down reparability requirements (i.e., washing machines, dishwashers, refrigerators, or vacuum cleaners). In the future, the Commission can introduce reparability requirements for new products, through the eco-design regulation, which will then be added to the list of products covered by the R2R directive (Annex 2).

It includes as main points:

• the possibility for consumers to request manufacturers to repair products.
• a European repair information form.
• a European Online Platform for repair.
• an extension of 12 months of the liability period of the seller after the repair of a product.

The provisional agreement needs to be endorsed and formally adopted by both institutions.

EU legislation on the reduction of national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants sets commitments that each EU Member State must meet for five air pollutants that significantly harm human health and the environment. Its status is call for evidences.

It added the agreements, strategy and recommendation which were published in February 2024.

For more information, consult the European Commission website here.

The Council adopted a directive to empower consumers for the green transition. The new rules will enhance consumers’ rights by amending the unfair commercial practices directive (UCPD) and the consumer rights directive (CRD) and adapting them for the green transition and the circular economy.

This means that the legislative act has been adopted and it will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union soon.

Provisions relating to the repair of products covered by the principle of extended producer responsibility to which the funds dedicated to financing the repair refer. The provisions of the decree will come into force on the 1^st  July 2024.

concerning urban wastewater treatment (recast)

– Letter to the Chair of the European Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI)