Impact assessment supporting study on potential ecodesign and energy labelling of mobile phones, smartphones and tablets

In the last 50 years, information, and communications technologies (ICT) have drastically changed the way we produce, consume, and communicate. While this transformation has brought enormous societal benefits, it comes with considerable environmental costs, mainly linked to energy and resource use. According to the latest global e-waste monitor report, a record 53.6 million tonnes of electronic waste was generated worldwide in 2019. This corresponds to a rise of 21% in the last five years. E-waste is today one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world and the EU, driven mainly by higher consumption rates of electric and electronic equipment, short life cycles, and few repair options.

In the New Circular Economy Action Plan, the European Commission announced the Sustainable Products Policy framework and the “Circular Electronics Initiative” to promote longer product lifetimes. It foresees “regulatory measures for electronics and ICT including mobile phones, tablets and laptops under the Eco-design Directive so that devices are designed for energy efficiency and durability, reparability, upgradability, maintenance, reuse and recycling”. The main aim of this study is to provide environmental, techno-economic analysis and scientific support to the European Commission in the policy-making process towards the development of measures on mobile phones and tablets under the provisions of Eco-design Directive 2009/125/EC and Energy Labelling Regulation EU 2017/1369.

To this end, Metroeconomica developed an Impact Assessment Report, where policy options for mobile and cordless phones and tablets were compared against baseline scenarios. This analysis involved a qualitative and quantitative look at the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of the policies. The study also drew on stakeholder and expert consultations to provide insights into the industry and the impacts.
The different policy options’ where then compared and given and ranked based on effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, trade-offs between impacts and EU added value.