Brussels proposes EU-wide tyre label and broader labelling directive scope
Thu 13 November 2008
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European tyre manufacturers may be required to display information about the environmental performance of their products at the point of sale, following a bill tabled to Parliament by the European Commission. The proposed legislation is intended to encourage consumers to choose to buy lower emission and quieter tyres.
The European's Directive proposal says that tyres can play a significant part in reducing transport energy intensity and emissions since they account for 20% to 30% of vehicles’ total fuel consumption. Rolling resistance in tyres is an important determinant of energy loss from vehicles and this varies significantly across tyre categories. There is a difference of up to 10% difference in the fuel consumption between vehicles using the best and worst-perfoming tyres.
Meanwhile, the Commission has also proposed a revision of the Energy Labelling Directive, adopted in 1992, which would broaden the current scheme beyond household appliances to include energy-consuming products in the industrial and commercial sectors. The draft legislation also imposes restrictions on public procurement, as member states would no longer be able to purchase products under certain energy-performance levels. Some EU states have expressed concern about a mandatory scheme.
If fully implemented, the proposal is anticipated to save 80 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum by 2020, based on savings from commercial heating and refrigeration equipment and windows alone. Second-hand products and vehicles are excluded.
ENDS reports that the Commission would like to see the labels displaying consumption of energy and of "water, chemicals or any other substance". Exactly what is included in a label would be defined on a product-by-product basis through separate implementing measures decided under EU comitology rules. Stakeholders want non-energy information to be voluntary.
Independently, the Commission is in discussion with EU member states to endorse a revised format for the product energy label.
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