11.11.2010   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 293/31

(1)

Under Directive 2009/125/EC ecodesign requirements should be set by the Commission for energy-related products representing significant volumes of sales and trade, having significant environmental impact and presenting significant potential for improvement in terms of their environmental impact without entailing excessive costs.

(2)

Article 16(2), first indent, of Directive 2009/125/EC provides that in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 19(3) and the criteria set out in Article 15(2), and after consulting the Ecodesign Consultation Forum, the Commission shall, as appropriate, introduce an implementing measure for domestic appliances, including household dishwashers.

(3)

The Commission has carried out a preparatory study to analyse the technical, environmental and economic aspects of household dishwashers typically used in households. The study has been developed together with stakeholders and interested parties from the Union and third countries, and the results have been made publicly available.

(4)

This Regulation should cover products designed for washing tableware in households.

(5)

The environmental aspect of household dishwashers, identified as significant for the purposes of this Regulation, is energy consumption in the use phase. The annual electricity consumption of products subject to this Regulation was estimated to have been 24,7 TWh in the Union in 2005 corresponding to 13 million tonnes of CO2. Unless specific measures are taken, annual electricity consumption is estimated to increase to 35 TWh in 2020. The preparatory study shows that the electricity and water consumption of products subject to this Regulation can be significantly reduced.

(6)

The preparatory study shows that requirements regarding other ecodesign parameters referred to in Annex I, Part 1 to Directive 2009/125/EC are not necessary as electricity consumption of household dishwashers in the use phase is by far the most important environmental aspect.

(7)

The electricity consumption of products subject to this Regulation should be made more efficient by applying existing non-proprietary cost-effective technologies that can reduce the combined costs of purchasing and operating these products.

(8)

The ecodesign requirements should not affect functionality from the end-user’s perspective and should not negatively affect health, safety or the environment. In particular, the benefits of reducing electricity consumption during the use phase should more than offset any additional environmental impacts during the production phase.

(9)

The ecodesign requirements should be introduced gradually in order to provide a sufficient time-frame for manufacturers to redesign products subject to this Regulation. The timing should be set in such a way as to avoid negative impacts on the functionalities of equipment on the market, and to take into account cost impacts for end-users and manufacturers, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises, while ensuring timely achievement of the objectives of this Regulation.

(10)

Measurements of the relevant product parameters should be performed using reliable, accurate and reproducible measurement methods, which take into account the recognised state-of-the-art measurement methods including, where available, harmonised standards adopted by the European standardisation bodies, as listed in Annex I to Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations and of rules on Information Society services (2).

(11)

In accordance with Article 8 of Directive 2009/125/EC, this Regulation should specify the applicable conformity assessment procedures.

(12)

In order to facilitate compliance checks, manufacturers should provide information in the technical documentation referred to in Annexes V and VI to Directive 2009/125/EC in so far as this information relates to the requirements laid down in this Regulation.

(13)

In addition to the legally binding requirements laid down in this Regulation, indicative benchmarks for best available technologies should be identified to ensure the wide availability and easy accessibility of information on the lifecycle environmental performance of products subject to this Regulation.

(14)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee referred to in Article 19(1) of Directive 2009/125/EC,

(1)

‘household dishwasher’ means a machine which cleans, rinses, and dries dishware, glassware, cutlery and cooking utensils by chemical, mechanical, thermal, and electric means and which is designed to be used principally for non-professional purposes;

(2)

‘built-in household dishwasher’ means a household dishwasher intended to be installed in a cabinet, a prepared recess in a wall or a similar location, requiring furniture finishing;

(3)

‘place settings’ means a defined set of crockery, glass and cutlery for use by one person;

(4)

‘rated capacity’ means the maximum number of place settings together with the serving pieces, as stated by the manufacturer, which can be treated in a household dishwasher on the programme selected when loaded in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions;

(5)

‘programme’ means a series of operations that are pre-defined and are declared as suitable by the manufacturer for specified levels of soil or types of load, or both, and together form a complete cycle;

(6)

‘programme time’ means the time that elapses from the initiation of the programme until the completion of the programme, excluding any user-programmed delay;

(7)

‘cycle’ means a complete cleaning, rinsing, and drying process, as defined for the selected programme;

(8)

‘off-mode’ means a condition where the household dishwasher is switched off using appliance controls or switches accessible to and intended for operation by the end-user during normal use to attain the lowest power consumption that may persist for an indefinite time while the household dishwasher is connected to a power source and used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions; where there is no control or switch accessible to the end-user, ‘off-mode’ means the condition reached after the household dishwasher reverts to a steady-state power consumption on its own;

(9)

‘left-on mode’ means the lowest power consumption mode that may persist for an indefinite time after completion of the programme and unloading of the machine without any further intervention of the end-user;

(10)

‘equivalent dishwasher’ means a model of household dishwasher placed on the market with the same rated capacity, technical and performance characteristics, energy and water consumption and airborne acoustical noise emissions as another model of household dishwasher placed on the market under a different commercial code number by the same manufacturer.

(a)

the generic ecodesign requirements set out in point 1(1) of Annex I shall apply from 1 December 2012;

(b)

the generic ecodesign requirements set out in point 1(2) of Annex I shall apply from 1 June 2012;

(c)

the specific ecodesign requirements set out in point 2(2) of Annex I shall apply from 1 December 2013;

(d)

the specific ecodesign requirements set out in point 2(3) of Annex I shall apply from 1 December 2016;