Eups instruction

On July 6, 2005, the European Union passed the "establishment of ecological design framework for energy products and the revision of directive 92 / 42 / EEC, 96 / 57 / EC and 2000 / 55 / EC" (EU eups directive). The first 14 categories of products (projects) involved in the directive will be implemented in stages in 2008.

The eups directive is another green environmental directive after the WEEE Directive and ROHS directive in the European Union. It covers a wider range and has a greater impact. As a part of the overall product policy framework of the European Union, it takes into account the consumption of resources and energy and the impact on the environment during the whole life cycle of energy using products. It takes the ecological design of energy using products as a preventive measure to maintain the functional quality of products At the same time, through the design to improve the environmental performance of products, reduce the impact of energy products on the environment. The eups directive covers all energy use products (except vehicles) sold or used in the EU, including motors, boilers, pumps, electric light sources, lamps, office equipment, large and small household appliances and electronic products. The project covers energy efficiency, noise, radiation, electromagnetic compatibility, harmful substances, pollution discharge (to atmosphere, soil and water) and recycling of waste products Use and recycle. Eups directive covers a wide range of products and requires manufacturers to change traditional design concepts and integrate ecological design ideas into product design. For the environmental impact assessment of energy using products, it is required to have a complete basic database and high requirements for test resources.

1. Analysis of the impact of EU's eups directive

The impact of EU's eups directive on China should be analyzed from multiple perspectives. The main negative impact is the increase of enterprise cost, and the investment of software and hardware required to respond to the directive will increase substantially.

According to statistics, in 2004, the amount of mechanical and electrical products exported to Europe reached 68.4 billion US dollars; in 2005, the amount of mechanical and electrical products exported to Europe reached 92 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 34.5%, accounting for 60.7% of the total exports to the EU; in 2006, the amount of mechanical and electrical products exported to Europe exceeded 110 billion US dollars. The export of China's mechanical and electrical products to the EU is growing rapidly. The EU has become one of the main markets of China's mechanical and electrical products. The significant changes in the market requirements will undoubtedly greatly affect the sustainable development of China's foreign oriented economy. According to the analysis of China household electrical appliances industry association, the impact of EU's eups directive on China's household electrical appliances industry will not be less than 50 billion yuan. Following the two environmental protection directives of WEEE and ROHS, the EU's eups directive will set greater obstacles to the export of China's household electrical appliances industry.

Following the EU's eups directive, the United States, Japan, South Korea and other countries began to set up green barriers for products in the name of environmental protection. For example, after the EU issued the environmental protection eups directive, California also issued the TBT notice, and implemented the energy efficiency regulations for audio and video products, power supply devices, digital TV adapters and other three products in stages.

At the same time that the export of energy products from China to the EU may be affected by the eups directive, we must see that the eups directive will also trigger an industrial technological revolution with the theme of product ecological design in the energy products manufacturing industry in China, including mechanical and electrical products. Therefore, the implementation of the eups directive for China can be said to be both opportunities and challenges.

The implementation of the eups directive will help enterprises to adjust their product structure and gradually eliminate some products harmful to the environment, promote more enterprises to adopt new technologies, improve the environmental protection standards of materials, fundamentally improve the export competitiveness of energy products in China, and at the same time, reduce the long-term cost of enterprises. In the long run, due to the implementation of directives and the development of standardization, enterprises are more likely to get comparable data and design tools, which makes product environmental impact assessment easier, more efficient and lower cost.

2. Domestic and foreign response to eups directive

Ecological design started earlier in developed countries such as EU and Japan, and some large-scale energy use product manufacturers in EU began to integrate the concept of ecological design into their product design as early as the early 1990s. For example, Snyder in France developed the environmental information management system software (eime software) in 1996 and applied it to the ecological design of the company's products. Siemens solidified the product ecological design method in the form of enterprise standard, and summed up 40 principles of ecological design that are easier to operate and integrated into all stages of the product life cycle. Hitachi Corporation of Japan uses 8 indexes to evaluate the ecological design effect of products, and formulates the specific goal of ecological environment of enterprise products.

In recent years, some famous enterprises in China have also done a lot of substantive work in improving the environmental impact of products. For example, Lenovo Group has to formulate annual environmental protection goals for production sites and products every year, and strive to achieve these goals in combination with the management of major environmental factors. Lenovo's annual goal in 2007 is to improve the recovery rate in the production process, reduce energy consumption and reduce the use of paper. The goal is to improve product energy efficiency, achieve recyclable and reusable product design, and use recycled materials and environmentally friendly coatings. In response to the eups directive, Meiling Group is cooperating with Hefei University of technology to study the scientific research project "green design technology and application of typical household appliances". Its research results will be formally applied to the design and production of green refrigerator products in the near future.

Due to various reasons, including ideology, the ecological design of energy consuming enterprises in China is still in its infancy, and there is a lack of necessary preparation for the EU green technical barriers in general. There is a big gap between China and advanced countries in the ecological design of energy products