The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

Carl Dalhammar

Carl Dalhammar

Senior lecturer

Carl Dalhammar

Regulating planned obsolescence: a review of legal approaches to increase product durability and reparability in Europe

Author

  • Carl Dalhammar
  • Eleonore Maitre-Ekern

Summary, in English

Improving product durability and reparability can save natural resources and money for consumers but may not always be in the best interest of all manufacturers. With the emergence of the circular economy as an important policy objective in the European Union (EU), there is renewed interest in policies to promote durability and address planned obsolescence. Different legislative approaches are currently used to provide incentives for design for durability and reparability at the EU and Member State levels. The EU has started to regulate durability through the Ecodesign Directive, whereas Member States have made use of other legal approaches such as longer consumer warranties, the criminalization of planned obsolescence and measures to incentivize the availability of spare parts. In this contribution, we review some of the legislation in place and discuss benefits and disadvantages of different legal approaches.

Department/s

  • The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics

Publishing year

2016-11-19

Language

English

Pages

378-394

Publication/Series

Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law (RECIEL)

Volume

25

Issue

3

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Topic

  • Law and Society

Keywords

  • durability, ecodesign, circular economy

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 2050-0386