The European Commission is currently laying the groundwork for the new Ecodesign Directive, which will provide consistent EU-wide rules for improving the environmental performance of energy related products (ERPs) through ecodesign.
Cembureau, the European cement association, is challenging the Directive, which threatens to subject energy-using products such as rotary kilns used in the cement industry to the new ecodesign criteria. The association argues that as cement kilns are part of a complex, multi-stage, integrated process, it is wrong to assess performance purely at kiln level.
Furthermore, as the environmental performance of cement kilns is already addressed through existing legislation, such as the Industrial Emissions Directive, it should not be subject to any additional criteria.
