EcoDesign in European Small and Medium Sized Enterprises of the Electrical and Electronics Sector Status Quo and the Road towards EuP

Ecodesign - or design for environment - is a concept followed by major players in the electrical and electronics sector for at least a decade, usually being part in the meantime of a broader sustainability strategy. However, the situation is different for small and medium sized enterprises: There are some encouraging business cases from SMEs, but ecodesign is far from being a concept well adopted by SMEs. In July 2005 the European energy-using products directive has been adopted and published, transferring EU\´s integrated product policy (IPP) for the first time into product related legislation. With the expected implementing measures, clearly ecodesign will become a "must" for the electronics industry serving the EU market. Therefore, there is a strong need, that SMEs adopt design for environment strategies in the near future to achieve EuP compliance