The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) has published its assessment of the 2017 Ecodesign requirements for minimum durability of vacuum cleaner hoses and motors.
The JRC conducted a Life Cycle Assessment of a bagged canister vacuum cleaner as well as a literature review. The product was assessed for potential changes in manufacturing, repair, maintenance, and energy consumption over a projected 10 year lifetime. The JRC report concluded that extending the lifetime of vacuum cleaners could bring both environmental and economic benefits in many of the scenarios considered. The report also emphasised enhanced reparability and suggested this could be achieved both by different design and by better availability of information and tools for the repair and/or replacement of some components. But they also stressed the importance of consumers making proper use of their appliances and the need for proper maintenance and repair.