The European Commission has just published a notice on the application of the new energy labelling requirements for Washing Machines, Washer Dryers, Dishwashers and Refrigerator/Freezers. In a press release, AppliA Europe expresses the home appliance sector concern of the possible negative environmental impacts of the implementation of the Regulations in the COVID-19 context, concretely resulting in additional environmental impacts such as the unnecessary scrapping of newly produced home appliances leading to loss of raw material and increased C02 emissions.
«We welcome that the Commission agrees that exceptional measures need to be implemented in response to COVID-19 and, to some extent, our call has been addressed in the European Commission Notice published in the Official Journal – commented Paolo Falcioni, APPLiA’s Director General. – The Notice makes clear that material efficiency and circularity are common priorities. Scrapping of fully functional new appliances, as an effect of the COVID-19 crisis, needs to be avoided.» The Notice requires Member States’ Market Surveillance Authorities to take into consideration the exceptional circumstances caused by the COVID-19 crisis when enforcing the Energy Label legislation. This could allow manufacturers to place accumulated stock of products on the market that only have the current energy label also after 1 November 2020 until 1 March 2021. This should avoid the unnecessary scrapping of some new appliances.
«Now, Market Surveillance Authorities need to adopt a harmonised approach across Europe to preserve the proper functioning of the EU Single Market and maintain a level playing field for manufacturers – Paolo Falcioni continued. – We therefore ask Member States to act constructively to pursue the common aim of preventing a needless waste of resources.»
