The new European Ecodesign Regulation: a holistic vision for sustainability

EU Regulation 2024/1781 - ESPR (Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation) is one of the strategic actions of the Green Deal (December 11, 2019) which aims to make the European Union the first greener, more equitable, and digital continent with zero climate impact by 2050. The Green Deal promotes a set of initiatives from the European Commission to transform the Union into a correct and prosperous society, with a modern and competitive economy, rethinking policies for all productive sectors. Consequently, with the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) of March 11, 2020, the current linear economy is replaced by a more sustainable model of circular economy, defined by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation as "an economy designed to regenerate itself." In fact, contrary to the linear model (take, make, waste), in the circular model we start from the resource, passing through its transformation and use, reuse and recycling, and return to being a resource. The EU promotes this model through a new industrial strategy based on the double ecological and digital transition. Green products and their production processes have a central role in the ecological transition. Thus comes the need to revolutionize the way we design, manufacture, use and upcycle the products in the value chain of circular economy. This new vision represents an opportunity for sustainable and inclusive growth, leaving no one and no place behind. The ESPR establishes a framework for eco-friendly design, outlining new requirements for products: durability, reliability, reparability, the possibility of improvement, reusability and recyclability, ease of maintenance, recovery of critical substances, reduction of waste, reduction of the environmental and carbon footprint and avoidance of the use of dangerous chemicals. The ESPPR defines a fundamental tool for the ecological and digital transition: the Digital Product Passport (DPP), which will be mandatory for all products (with the exception of food and feed, medicines, even veterinary products, plants, products of human origin, products for plants and animals and certain vehicles as they are already regulated by other regulations) starting from July 2026. The DPP is a registry containing detailed data on the life cycle of the product, including materials, technical specifications, emissions, consumption of resources, instructions for recycling and maintenance from an LCT (life cycle thinking) perspective. The DPP must also guarantee transparency and traceability in data sharing between the various stakeholders involved in the supply chain. The DPP is, therefore, a digital register that acts as a unique identifier of the product that supports the creation of circular information flows along the value chains. Therefore, it can be stated that the Regulation is also consistent with the objectives of the 2030 Agenda, especially in point 17.7: "Promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies to developing countries under favorable conditions, even at facilitated and preferential conditions, as mutually agreed." The study aims to highlight, in the light of experiences already conducted in Europe, scientific and technical challenges still to be faced on the digital identity of products in the construction sector, considered one of the most polluting sectors and protagonist of the first experiments conducted to the Materials Passport.