Improving product durability and reparability can save natural resources and money for consumers but may not always be in the best interest of all manufacturers. With the emergence of the circular economy as an important policy objective in the European Union (EU), there is renewed interest in policies to promote durability and address planned obsolescence. Different legislative approaches are currently used to provide incentives for design for durability and reparability at the EU and Member State levels. The EU has started to regulate durability through the Ecodesign Directive, whereas Member States have made use of other legal approaches such as longer consumer warranties, the criminalization of planned obsolescence and measures to incentivize the availability of spare parts. In this contribution, we review some of the legislation in place and discuss benefits and disadvantages of different legal approaches.

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In their roles as purchasers, users and dischargers of used products, consumers play an important role in the circular economy. In this article, we put forward a ‘hierarchy of consumption behaviour’ to support European Union policymaking. Among the priorities are avoiding the purchase of single-use and unnecessary products, prolonging the lifetime of products through maintenance and engaging in repair activities. Moreover, the hierarchy intends to privilege sharing and leasing to buying and second-hand products to new ones. Finally, consumption in the circular economy also requires allowing products to re-circulate. Changing consumption patterns is difficult insofar as they are largely determined by the paradigm upon which our economy is built and are enabled by the existing legal framework, most notably European Union consumer law. The article contains concrete recommendations to develop European Union law and promote the proposed hierarchy.

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