The European Commission will introduce new energy label legislation in 2021 covering washing machines, washer dryers, refrigeration appliances and automatic dishwashing products. The new legislation is much tougher than previous iterations and promises to have a significant impact in the EU and beyond. Not only will brands need to invest in efficiency upgrades to rank well in the new system, but also the use of nudge theory means all stakeholders are being pushed towards lower wash temperatures.
This report comes in PPT.
The forthcoming European Energy Label due in 2021 is the third iteration of the Commission’s legislation on MDA energy use, pushing another step change in lowering total European consumer energy usage associated with domestic appliances.
Although much of the commentary for the appliance industry does tend to focus on high growth markets such as China, the EU block and its satellites do continue to make up a significant share of MDA sales value, and the impact of the regulation is felt beyond the EU.
While earlier legislation was evidently circumvented by some appliance brand activities, the 2021 legislation is different and has clearly benefited from industry knowledge, guiding actions towards the social goals and blocking known methods for gaming the system.
Significantly, brands that have traditionally offered the lowest price point products will be impacted hardest by the need to invest in and deploy new technology in order to even get onto the energy label. This may impact pricing (both average for affected categories, and even the entry price point for washing machines). This is not an easy regulation to meet.
2021 legislation will affect washing machines, washer dryers, refrigeration appliances and automatic dishwashers which together account for >60% of MDA sales across the region where the rules will be enforced. Brand owners are naturally working hard to mitigate disruption in their own operations as well as for consumers at point of sale.
The A~G rating energy label is expected to be applied to tumble dryers, ovens and the troublesome floor care (SDA) categories later with an equally challenging push on efficiency; this legislation is envisaged to land around 2023 but is unconfirmed.
Depending on future penetration, auto-dosing has appeared on the EU’s radar needing special liquid detergent consideration in 2025. Additional limits on energy use are slated for 2024. There is a ban coming on washing machines that allow micro plastics to exit into waste water (ban confirmed for France in 2025, but with EU wide rules also expected).
This is the aggregation of laundry care, dishwashing products, surface care, chlorine bleach, toilet care, polishes, air fresheners and insecticides.
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