Overview
The ESPR is the EU's framework for designing products to last, to be repaired, and to be recycled. It does not regulate one product. It gives the Commission the power to set rules for product group after product group, each tuned to what that group needs.
The ESPR itself mostly sets the machinery. The concrete limits arrive later as delegated acts for specific products. So the regulation is in force, but the detailed requirements for, say, textiles or furniture follow over the coming years.
What it can require
For a given product group, the ESPR can set requirements across a wide range of properties.
Beyond energy
The earlier Ecodesign Directive applied mainly to energy-related products, things whose use consumes power. The ESPR widens that lens to almost all physical products. The focus moves from energy efficiency alone to the full picture of how a product is made, used and disposed of.
Aimed at energy-related products, with requirements largely about energy efficiency in use.
Aimed at almost all product groups, with requirements on durability, repairability, recycled content, substances and more.
The Digital Product Passport
A central tool of the ESPR is the Digital Product Passport, a digital record that travels with a product and carries the information needed to repair, reuse or recycle it. The ESPR is the main legal home for the passport across product groups, while sector laws such as the Battery Regulation bring their own versions for specific products.
Note: general educational information, not legal advice. Check the official source before relying on it.