Last edited 21 Jan 2026

Ecodesign compliant products

The term Ecodesign relates back to the Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 establishing a framework for the setting of Ecodesign requirements for energy-related products. This directive covered a wide variety of energy related products:

The Ecodesign Directive has two types of requirements that the above products need to meet to differring levels.

Specific requirements which are exact values that are measured and a certain limit is given, such as maximum energy consumption, or minimum quantities of recycled material to be used in production.

Generic requirements are more general and do not set limit values, but may require a certain degree of energy-efficiency' or recyclability, information on use and maintenance to minimise its environmental impacts and a lifecycle analysis of the product to identify alternative design options and solutions for improvement

In recent years particular items have been highlighted in the press as legislation pushes towards greater efficiency of systems and products, in particular lighting products such as the phasing out of incandescent lamps from 2009, or the requirement for all new wood burning stoves to be ecodesign compliant, such as was required in the UK in 2022.

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