The circular economy strategy as a way of designing more durable, repairable, and reusable products

Abstract

The European Union’s strategy for the circular economy seeks to change the current linear model of production and consumption, which involves the misuse of many resources and the production of huge amounts of waste. To this purpose, it is necessary to amend legislation on the ecodesign of products and introduce durability, repairability and reusability criteria. This article analyses the origins and evolution of ecodesign legislation, as well as the challenges that the circular economy poses to this legislation, pointing out the main limits and regulatory changes that should be considered.