Product lifetimes through the various legal approaches with in the EU context: recent initiatives against planned obsolescence

Our today's society is often called a 'throwaway society; based on a linear 'take-make-usedispose' economy. Many studies point out that median litespans of certain consumer products are in decline. One of the main sources of' this problem is the phenomenon of"planned obsolescence; covering all types of' techniques used to artificially limit the durability of a manufactured good in order to stimulate repetitive consumption. Various types of planned obsolescence are omnipresent in our daily DC. Planned obsolescence has huge drawbacks, for consumers as well for the environment, and, arguably, its potential positive side effects do not outweigh these drawbacks. Mlle willingness to shift towards more durable and sustainable products has led to major legal developments and proposals over the past years. The purpose of this paper is to outline some of the various approaches followed in Europe to tackle planned obsolescence. After providing a glimpse into the ELl policy actions, the paper will describe the recent purely national initiatives undertaken in Dance, Belgium and Germany.