COMMISSION DECISION
of 17 December 2013
establishing the ecological criteria for the award of the EU Ecolabel for imaging equipment
(notified under document C(2013) 9097)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2013/806/EU)
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 on the EU Ecolabel (1), and in particular Article 8(2) thereof,
After consulting the European Union Eco-labelling Board,
Whereas:
(1)
Under Regulation (EC) No 66/2010, the EU Ecolabel may be awarded to products which have a reduced environmental impact during their entire life cycle.
(2)
Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 provides that specific EU Ecolabel criteria are to be established according to product groups.
(3)
The criteria aim, in particular, at promoting products that have a reduced environmental impact along their life cycle, which are resource efficient including energy efficient, and which contain a limited amount of hazardous substances. Since the main environmental impacts of imaging equipment along the life cycle are related to the use of paper, energy consumption and the use of hazardous substances, the products with improved performance on these aspects should be promoted. It is therefore appropriate to establish EU Ecolabel criteria for the product group ‘imaging equipment’.
(4)
The EU Ecolabel criteria will complement the ecodesign requirements for imaging equipment to be placed on the EU market that are laid down in a self-regulation measure concluded by the industry under Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for energy-related products (2). The self-regulation measure was recognised by the European Commission in the Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the voluntary ecodesign scheme for imaging equipment (3).
(5)
The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 66/2010,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
1. The product group ‘imaging equipment’ shall comprise products which are marketed for office or domestic use, or both, and produce printed images, in the form of paper document or photo, through a marking process from one or both of the following:
(a)
a digital image, provided by a network or card interface;
(b)
a hardcopy through a copying process.
Imaging equipment which have the additional function to produce a digital image from a hard copy through a scanning process are included in the scope of this Decision. This Decision shall apply to products which are marketed as printers, copiers and multifunctional devices.
2. Fax machines, digital duplicators, mailing machines and scanners are excluded from the scope of this Decision.
3. Large products which are not typically used in household and office equipment shall also be excluded from the scope of this Decision where they meet one of the following technical specifications:
(a)
standard black and white format products with maximum speed over 66 A4 images per minute;
(b)
standard colour format products with maximum speed over 51 A4 images per minute;
(c)
designed for A2 media and larger; or
(d)
products marketed as plotters;
speed to be rounded to the nearest integer.
Article 2
For the purpose of this Decision, the following definitions shall apply:
(1)
‘printer’ means a commercially available imaging product that serves as a hard copy output device, and is capable of receiving information from single-user or networked computers, or other input devices, where the unit is capable of being powered from a wall outlet or from a data or network connection;
(2)
‘copier’ means a commercially available imaging product whose sole function is the production of hard copy duplicates from graphic hard copy originals, where the unit is capable of being powered from a wall outlet or from a data or network connection;
(3)
‘multifunction device’ means a commercially available imaging product which is a physically integrated device or a combination of functionally integrated components that performs two or more of the core functions of copying, printing, scanning, or faxing, where the unit is capable of being powered from a wall outlet or from a data or network connection and the copy functionality is distinct from single sheet convenience copying offered by fax machines;
(4)
‘packaging’ means all products made of any materials of any nature used for the containment, protection, handling, delivery and presentation of goods, from the producer to the user;
(5)
‘recycling’ means any recovery operation by which waste materials are reprocessed into products, materials or substances whether for the original or other purposes, including the reprocessing of organic material but not energy recovery and reprocessing into materials that are to be used as fuels or for backfilling operations;
(6)
‘reuse’ means any operation by which products or components that are not waste are used again for the same purpose for which they were conceived;
(7)
‘reused content (of a product)’ means the content of a product which has undergone a reuse operation;
(8)
‘cartridge anti-reutilisation devices’ means devices fitted on the cartridge and or software/hardware that is necessary for the cartridge functioning that result in hampering the direct cartridge reuse;
(9)
‘spare part’ means an interchangeable part that is kept in an inventory and used for the repair or replacement of failed parts;
(10)
‘consumables’ means articles other than electricity which are also marketed separately from the main imaging equipment and that are necessary for the product operation;
(11)
‘networked equipment’ means equipment that can connect to a network and has one or more network ports;
(12)
‘network port’ means a wired or wireless physical interface of the network connection located at the equipment through which the equipment is able to be remotely activated;
(13)
‘networked equipment with high network availability (HiNA equipment)’ means equipment with one or more of the following functionalities as the main function(s): router, network switch, wireless network access point, hub, modem, VoIP telephone, video phone;
(14)
‘large format printing equipment’ means printing equipment designed for printing on A2 media and larger, including those designed to accommodate continuous-form media above 406 mm wide.
Article 3
The criteria for awarding the EU Ecolabel under Regulation (EC) No 66/2010, for a product falling within the product group ‘imaging equipment’ defined in Article 1 of this Decision as well as the related assessment and verification requirements, are set out in the Annex.
Article 4
The criteria and the related assessment requirements set out in the Annex, shall be valid for four years from the date of adoption of this Decision.
Article 5
For administrative purposes, the code number assigned to the product group ‘imaging equipment’ shall be 43.
Article 6
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 17 December 2013.