ESPR (EU) 2024/1781: Sustainable Products Reg
Guide - ESPR Regulation
Adopted on 13 June 2024, published in the Official Journal on 28 June and entered into force on 18 July 2024, Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, known as ESPR (Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation), marks a step change in the European law of ecodesign. It widens the scope of the former Directive 2009/125/EC, the ErP Directive, which addressed only energy-related products, to almost all physical goods placed on the Union market. As a cornerstone of the European Green Deal and the Circular Economy Action Plan, ESPR establishes a cross-cutting framework applied product by product through delegated acts staggered until 2030. This guide sets out the scope, the twelve axes of ecodesign requirements, the mechanics of the Digital Product Passport (DPP), the priority delegated-act schedule, and the interplay with the Battery Regulation, the Cyber Resilience Act and the USB-C Common Charger Directive.
Why Directive 2009/125/EC is being replaced
Section titled “Why Directive 2009/125/EC is being replaced”Directive 2009/125/EC, the ErP Directive on Energy-related Products, has provided the ecodesign framework for fifteen years, centred on products that consume or affect energy: light bulbs, electric motors, household appliances, water heaters, transformers, computers. Its scope was twofold: products directly using energy and products affecting in-service consumption (windows, taps, for instance). Three limits led the Commission to propose a more ambitious replacement regulation.
The first limit is the energy perimeter. The ErP Directive could not, given its legal architecture, address a textile, a piece of furniture, a detergent or a raw material, even though these products account for a substantial share of the environmental impact of European consumption. To cover them, the Commission either had to extend the scope via parallel regimes or build a new framework.
The second limit is the energy efficiency only logic. The ErP Directive mainly regulates in-service energy performance, with sporadic coverage of durability or reparability (introduced in the more recent measures on screens and mobile phones). A full circular approach requires that durability, reparability, recycled content, recyclability, presence of substances of concern, and carbon and environmental footprints be integrated within a single regulatory tool.
The third limit is the absence of downstream transparency. The ErP Directive yields an energy label for the consumer, but no structured digital register travelling with the product throughout its life cycle and accessible to repair, refurbishment and recycling actors. The Digital Product Passport, the keystone feature of ESPR, fills this gap.
ESPR joins the CE marking family: any product covered by an ESPR delegated act becomes a harmonised product under the New Legislative Framework. For consistency with other CE regimes, see the CE marking guide and the detailed CE procedure.
ESPR vs ErP: the scope expansion
Section titled “ESPR vs ErP: the scope expansion”The table below summarises the main differences in scale and logic between the 2009 ErP Directive and the 2024 ESPR Regulation. The transition is not instantaneous: as long as no ESPR delegated act has replaced a given ErP implementing measure, the latter remains in force.
| Dimension | ErP Directive 2009/125/EC | ESPR Regulation 2024/1781 |
|---|---|---|
| Legal instrument | Directive (national transposition) | Regulation (directly applicable) |
| Scope | Energy-related products | Almost all physical goods |
| Main axis | In-service energy efficiency | Full life cycle, twelve axes |
| Transparency tool | Energy label | Digital Product Passport (DPP) |
| Adoption mechanism | Sectoral implementing measures | Sectoral delegated acts |
| Unsold-goods destruction | No ban | Textile and footwear ban in 2026 |
| Upstream due diligence | Absent | Integrated via DPP and substances |
| Single-market alignment | Variable through transposition | Direct harmonisation |
ESPR does not immediately repeal the ErP Directive: existing implementing measures (for example on lighting, appliances, motors) remain in force until the Commission adopts, by ESPR delegated act, equivalent or stricter rules for the same product group. This coexistence phase will run for several years.
The twelve axes of ecodesign requirements (Article 5)
Section titled “The twelve axes of ecodesign requirements (Article 5)”Article 5 of the Regulation lists the axes along which the Commission may, by delegated act, set requirements for a given product group. This catalogue defines the regulatory breadth of ESPR: each delegated act may, in principle, deploy any or all of these axes depending on the priorities for the targeted product.
- Durability: ability of the product to perform its function over a defined period.
- Reliability: probability of failure-free operation over a defined period.
- Reusability: ability for a new use after a first life.
- Upgradability: capacity to integrate higher-performing components or software.
- Reparability: ease and cost of repair, spare parts availability, access to instructions.
- Maintenance and refurbishment: industrial refurbishment, reconditioning.
- Presence of substances of concern: SVHC, REACH Annex XVII, candidate substances.
- Energy and other resource consumption: water, critical raw materials.
- Recycled content: share of materials originating from post-consumer recycling.
- Remanufacturing and recyclability: design for disassembly and sorting.
- Carbon and environmental footprint: declaration following the PEF methodology.
- Waste generation: minimisation of manufacturing waste and end-of-life waste.
This list is not exhaustive: Article 5(1)(f) opens the door to further parameters relevant to circularity or sustainability. The Commission may, by delegated act, add product-specific axes (for example, the absence of DRM hindering repair for electronics, or backward compatibility of spare parts over a defined horizon).
Axis hierarchy by product group
Section titled “Axis hierarchy by product group”Not every axis applies to every product. For a textile, durability and presence of substances of concern dominate. For an electronic product, reparability, upgradability and carbon footprint take priority. The applicable delegated act selects the relevant axes for the group, sets quantitative thresholds, and lays down the test and declaration methodology.
The Digital Product Passport (DPP)
Section titled “The Digital Product Passport (DPP)”The DPP is the most visible cross-cutting innovation of ESPR. Defined in Articles 9 to 14, it is a digital record attached to each product, or to each batch, that aggregates the data required by the applicable delegated act. The product's unique identifier is carried by a physical data carrier: QR code, two-dimensional barcode or any other machine-readable device.
DPP structure
Section titled “DPP structure”The exact DPP content is set by each product-specific delegated act, but ESPR imposes a minimum structure.
| Layer | Data type | Access |
|---|---|---|
| Identification | Unique product identifier, unique manufacturer identifier, model references | Public |
| Composition | Materials, substances of concern, declared recycled content | Public or restricted depending on the act |
| Performance | Carbon footprint, durability, efficiency class | Public |
| Repair | Disassembly instructions, available spare parts, authorised repairer contacts | Public |
| Recycling | End-of-life procedure, collection points, specific treatment | Authorised actors |
| Conformity | EU declaration of conformity, test reports | Market surveillance authorities |
The passport is kept up to date by the economic operator responsible for placing the product on the market (Article 11). It remains accessible for a duration defined by the delegated act, generally several years beyond the disposal of the product. Data are stored either in centralised registers operated by the Commission or in decentralised registers operated by manufacturers, depending on the delegated act. A central ESPR registry managed by the Commission consolidates the unique identifiers and enables cross-actor traceability.
DPP, battery passport and other passports
Section titled “DPP, battery passport and other passports”The ESPR DPP is not the only European digital passport. The Battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 introduced, from February 2027, a battery passport specific to the battery product. The two passports coexist: an e-bike will have an ESPR DPP for the bike as a whole (frame, drivetrain, control electronics) and a separate battery passport for the lithium-ion cell it carries. Forthcoming ESPR delegated acts on electronic products are expected to clarify interoperability between passports: cross-reference, shared identifier, or aggregating structure. For details of the battery passport, see the Battery Regulation guide.
The ESPR Working Plan 2025-2030
Section titled “The ESPR Working Plan 2025-2030”The Regulation does not directly list the products subject to requirements. Article 18 provides for the adoption of a working plan by the Commission, identifying priority groups on the basis of a multi-criteria analysis: environmental improvement potential, intra-Union trade volume, readiness of technical data, supply-chain viability.
The first working plan covers the 2025-2030 period and was published by the Commission in April 2025. It identifies several priority groups. The categories listed below are indicative and ordered by thematic clusters; the precise delegated-act schedule for each group will become available as official publications proceed.
| Cluster | Priority product groups |
|---|---|
| Textiles and apparel | Clothing, household linen, footwear, textile by-products |
| Metals | Iron and steel, aluminium |
| Chemicals | Industrial and consumer chemicals |
| Electronics and ICT | Smartphones, tablets, laptops, computing equipment, solar panels |
| Mobility | Tyres |
| Home and comfort | Furniture, mattresses |
| Hygiene and maintenance | Detergents, paints |
Delegated acts are adopted individually by group through a comitology procedure. The adoption duration for an ESPR sectoral delegated act is generally several years from its listing in the working plan: stakeholder consultation, impact assessment, draft act, scrutiny by Parliament and Council, publication in the Official Journal, transition period for manufacturers.
General application schedule
Section titled “General application schedule”Article 27 and the transitional provisions lay down the general schedule. The milestones below provide the most stable reference points.
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 13 June 2024 | Regulation adopted |
| 28 June 2024 | Published in the Official Journal |
| 18 July 2024 | Entry into force |
| April 2025 | Publication of the ESPR Working Plan 2025-2030 |
| 19 July 2026 | Ban on destruction of unsold textiles and footwear (six-year SME exemption, microenterprises under conditions) |
| 2025-2030 | Progressive adoption of delegated acts for priority product groups |
| Rolling | Substitution of ErP implementing measures by ESPR equivalents |
The 2030 horizon is not the end of the process: the working plan will be renewed in successive cycles, and additional product groups will enter scope. Manufacturers must therefore maintain active monitoring of the draft delegated acts published by the Commission, and anticipate requirements as early as possible during the consultation phase.
To place this schedule in the broader trajectory (RED, CE, CRA, batteries), see the certification timeline guide.
Interplay with other European regimes
Section titled “Interplay with other European regimes”ESPR does not operate in isolation. It interlocks with a growing family of European acts, each addressing a specific dimension of the product.
ESPR and Battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1542
Section titled “ESPR and Battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1542”The Battery Regulation governs the battery itself: battery passport, carbon footprint, recycled content, due diligence, removable batteries for portables. ESPR governs the host product into which the battery is integrated. For a smartphone, the battery passport covers the cell, and the ESPR DPP covers the smartphone (durability, reparability, software updates as a durability driver, disassembly, recyclability). The two passports coexist and the ESPR delegated act on electronics will define their articulation. For details of the battery passport, see the Battery Regulation guide.
ESPR and Cyber Resilience Act (CRA)
Section titled “ESPR and Cyber Resilience Act (CRA)”The CRA, Regulation (EU) 2024/2847, covers the cybersecurity of products with digital elements: vulnerability handling, security updates, disclosure. ESPR covers environmental sustainability. For a connected device, both regimes apply in parallel: an ESPR DPP and a CRA security support life cycle. A CRA obligation to provide security updates over the expected support duration can sit alongside an ESPR obligation to make spare parts available, with no normative conflict. For details of the CRA, see the Cyber Resilience Act guide.
ESPR and USB-C Common Charger Directive
Section titled “ESPR and USB-C Common Charger Directive”Directive (EU) 2022/2380, the USB-C Common Charger Directive, mandates a harmonised charging connector for small and medium-sized portable electronic equipment. It addresses charging interface convergence; ESPR will address, via its electronics delegated act, reparability, upgradability and the passport for the complete device. The two add up without overlap: a smartphone placed on the European market after the entry into application of the ESPR electronics delegated act will have to combine a USB-C port, a removable battery under the Battery Regulation, and a DPP under ESPR. For details of USB-C, see the USB-C guide.
ESPR and Energy Labelling Regulation
Section titled “ESPR and Energy Labelling Regulation”Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 on energy labelling remains applicable to the groups already covered (appliances, lighting). ESPR does not abolish the energy label: it complements it by linking it to the DPP, which gives access to richer information than the A to G classes alone. The Commission has stated its intention to harmonise the rating scale progressively between the energy label and ESPR axes to avoid duplicate declarations.
ESPR and REACH
Section titled “ESPR and REACH”REACH (Regulation (EC) 1907/2006) governs the placing of chemical substances on the market. ESPR mobilises the SVHC (Substances of Very High Concern) lists established under REACH and requires their declaration in the DPP where the applicable delegated act so provides. A REACH candidate substance above the 0.1 percent mass threshold in an article must, in addition to the REACH Article 33 information duty, be declared in the DPP of the finished product.
Due diligence and upstream transparency
Section titled “Due diligence and upstream transparency”Through the DPP and the associated declarations, ESPR introduces a requirement of supply-chain transparency that goes beyond conventional product compliance. The carbon footprint and recycled content axes require tracing back to upstream suppliers (raw materials, sub-assemblies, components) to gather verified data. For critical raw materials (cobalt, lithium, nickel, rare earths), the convergence with the Battery Regulation and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD, Directive (EU) 2024/1760) is explicit: ESPR identifies supplier mapping data and third-party reports as admissible sources for the DPP.
For a European manufacturer integrating Asian components without PEF documentation, this imposes a traceable sourcing programme: add PEF, recycled content and SVHC requirements to the supplier specification, contractualise data delivery, and organise third-party verification.
Conformity assessment procedure and CE marking
Section titled “Conformity assessment procedure and CE marking”ESPR falls into the CE marking family under the New Legislative Framework. The exact procedure (internal control A, A1, A2, EU type examination B, conformity to type C, production quality assurance D, product quality assurance E, product verification F, full quality assurance H) is set by each product-specific delegated act, drawing on the modules of Decision 768/2008/EC.
| Module | Summary | Third party required |
|---|---|---|
| A, A1, A2 | Internal control, with or without supervised tests | No or conditional |
| B + C, C1, C2 | EU type examination plus conformity to type | Yes (notified body) |
| D, D1 | Production quality assurance | Yes |
| E, E1 | Product quality assurance | Yes |
| F, F1 | Product verification | Yes |
| G | Unit verification | Yes |
| H, H1 | Full quality assurance | Yes |
Responsibility lies with the manufacturer or its authorised representative in the Union. The chain of responsibilities extends to importers (Article 27), distributors (Article 28) and online marketplace providers (Article 30), each with their own duties to verify conformity before making available. For the general module-selection logic, see the self-declaration vs notified body guide.
The economic operator then draws up the EU declaration of conformity and affixes the CE marking. Where the product falls under several harmonisation acts (ESPR, RED, EMC, low voltage, batteries), the single declaration cites all applicable acts.
Ban on destruction of unsold consumer goods
Section titled “Ban on destruction of unsold consumer goods”Article 25 introduces a novel provision: a ban on the destruction of unsold goods. Destruction covers landfilling, incineration and any other operation rendering the product permanently unusable, except for material recycling.
The ban enters into application on 19 July 2026 for textiles and footwear. Small enterprises (SE under Recommendation 2003/361/EC: fewer than 50 employees and turnover or balance sheet below EUR 10 million) benefit from a six-year exemption after entry into application. Microenterprises (fewer than 10 employees and turnover below EUR 2 million) benefit from a permanent exemption, subject to annual declaration of the quantities concerned.
The Commission is empowered, by delegated act, to extend the ban to additional product groups if an impact assessment supports it. The first candidates referenced in the preparatory work are consumer electronics and toys.
For textile retailers, this ban requires a redesign of unsold-goods management: restocking, donation, sale on the secondary market, material recycling. Destruction remains permitted on grounds of health, safety or intellectual property protection, subject to declaration.
Practical impact on product designers
Section titled “Practical impact on product designers”For a design office working today on a product that will fall under an ESPR delegated act, several parameters become structural from the specification phase onward. The list below sets out the main impacts identified for consumer electronics and ICT equipment.
- Demountable architecture: design assemblies with standard screws or clips, avoid structural adhesives, provide clearly documented disassembly points. Reparability by an independent technician becomes a default requirement.
- Upgradability: provide standardised interfaces (memory, storage, radio modules) so that hardware updates remain feasible during the support period. The logic extends beyond software.
- PEF and recycled content data: incorporate, in the supplier specification, the obligation to provide environmental footprint and recycled content data per component. Components without data become a regulatory risk.
- Substances of concern: maintain the SVHC list and the mapping of REACH-regulated substances in the product bill of materials. The DPP will require their declaration.
- Identifier and data carrier: provide a physical location for the QR code or other carrier, readable throughout the product life. For a small-format electronic product, this is an industrialisation constraint to anticipate.
- Technical documentation: structure the documentation to cover the relevant axes of Article 5 and allow updates to the DPP as the product evolves. Retention is generally ten years from the last placing on the market.
- Spare parts and instructions: organise a programme to make spare parts and repair instructions available over a horizon defined by the delegated act (typically several years after production has ended).
For the full regulatory mapping (CE, RED, EMC, RoHS, REACH, WEEE), see the CE marking scope page. The spilma glossary lists the key terms (DPP, PEF, SVHC, ecodesign, ESPR working plan) with reference definitions.
Common pitfalls
Section titled “Common pitfalls”| Risk | Consequence | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Treating ESPR as immediate | Oversized programmes, premature mobilisation | Align with the real schedule: requirements activate via delegated acts, not at entry into force |
| Skipping the delegated-acts watch | Late discovery of requirements at market placement | Maintain active monitoring of draft delegated acts, follow consultations |
| Conflating ESPR with the CRA | Cybersecurity confused with environmental sustainability | Separate the ESPR product life cycle (sustainability) from the CRA support life cycle (vulnerabilities) |
| Forgetting the DPP at design stage | Late mechanical redesign to fit the data carrier | Provide for the QR code location at industrialisation stage |
| Conflating battery passport and ESPR DPP | Duplication or coverage gap in documentation | Map both passports separately, battery distinct from host product |
| Underestimating supplier-side data | PEF and recycled content data not collected | Contractualise data at the sourcing stage, from component RFQ onwards |
| Missing the unsold-goods destruction ban | Administrative sanction in 2026 for textiles and footwear | For affected retail, organise the second-life channel before July 2026 |
Penalties are set by each Member State, but the regulation requires that they be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. The first national transpositions provide for substantial administrative fines and market-removal measures. Market surveillance relies on Regulation (EU) 2019/1020.
See also
Section titled “See also”- ErP / Ecodesign 2009/125/EC: product energy efficiency
- Energy Star: the US voluntary energy-efficiency program
- EU Ecolabel, PEF and LCA for electronic products
- Conflict minerals: Dodd-Frank, EU 2017/821, CMRT and EMRT
Sources & references
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 establishing a framework for setting ecodesign requirements , EUR-Lex eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1781/oj
- European Commission, Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation page , European Commission commission.europa.eu/energy-climate-change-environment/standards-tools-and-labels/products-labelling-rules-and-requirements/sustainable-products/ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation_en
- European Commission, ESPR Working Plan 2025-2030 , European Commission commission.europa.eu/energy-climate-change-environment/standards-tools-and-labels/products-labelling-rules-and-requirements/sustainable-products/ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation/ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation-working-plan_en
- Digital Product Passport, Commission information page , European Commission commission.europa.eu/energy-climate-change-environment/standards-tools-and-labels/products-labelling-rules-and-requirements/sustainable-products/digital-product-passport_en
- Directive 2009/125/EC establishing a framework for ecodesign of energy-related products (ErP, progressively replaced) , EUR-Lex eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2009/125/oj
- Decision 768/2008/EC on a common framework for the marketing of products , EUR-Lex eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2008/768/oj