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Module B1 Study Book - the Graduate School of the Environment

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Data obtained by Market Transformation Programme ((MTP)), 2006) and by<br />

author, November 2006<br />

From <strong>the</strong> above we can see that <strong>the</strong> share <strong>of</strong> hot tubs grows from 4.22% in<br />

2005 to 7.38% in 2020<br />

2.5 Government regulations<br />

Looking at <strong>the</strong> foregoing we can see that hot tubs do use a large amount <strong>of</strong><br />

energy, and that is an important issue if you compare <strong>the</strong>ir total UK energy<br />

consumption with o<strong>the</strong>r appliances. This highlights <strong>the</strong> need for government<br />

regulations which would influence manufacturers and inform consumers.<br />

Currently manufacturers do not clearly identify <strong>the</strong> efficiency <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir products,<br />

and no baseline exists to measure products against, which can result in <strong>the</strong><br />

misselling or at <strong>the</strong> least misinforming consumers. Fur<strong>the</strong>r, regulations should<br />

be established for hot tub manufacturing. Which government body should be<br />

taking action in this matter?<br />

The MTP is part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Department for <strong>Environment</strong>, Food and Rural Affairs<br />

(DEFRA) and supports UK government policy on sustainable products. Its aim<br />

is to achieve sustainable improvements in <strong>the</strong> resource efficiency <strong>of</strong> products,<br />

systems and services where <strong>the</strong>se are critical to <strong>the</strong> delivery <strong>of</strong> Government<br />

commitments in areas including climate change, water efficiency and waste<br />

reduction (MTP, 2006, online)). MTP manage <strong>the</strong> UK energy labelling which<br />

we see within retail for white goods. According to a spokesperson for <strong>the</strong><br />

MTP (Evans, MTP, telephone conversation in October 2006), <strong>the</strong> high<br />

energy usage <strong>of</strong> hot tubs has only recently come to <strong>the</strong> attention <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> MTP,<br />

but no action has been taken yet. The EU energy labelling is to be revised<br />

next year, and <strong>the</strong> UK is proposing to widen <strong>the</strong> amount <strong>of</strong> products with<br />

energy labelling hopefully to include hot tubs. To get exact information on <strong>the</strong><br />

amount <strong>of</strong> hot tubs in <strong>the</strong> UK, <strong>the</strong> MTP would (at high cost) have to purchase<br />

market information from a market research company. This is <strong>the</strong> same for<br />

all commercial products, as manufacturers are very secretive about sales<br />

figures.<br />

200 Student Essay: Mirjam Lytton-Lange

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