The ban on destruction of unsold textiles comes into effect on 19 July 2026

I. Context

Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 on the ecodesign for sustainable products (ESPR, Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation) entered into force on 18 July 2024. It replaces the 2009 ecodesign directive, which was previously limited to energy-related products, and extends the regulatory framework to a wide range of physical goods placed on the European Union market.

The regulation pursues three main objectives:

• setting a general framework for the definition of ecodesign requirements;
• introducing a Digital Product Passport providing structured information for each product;
• and regulating the treatment of unsold goods, in particular the destruction of unsold consumer products.

The textile sector is the first affected by this third aspect. The European Commission estimates that between 4% and 9% of textiles placed on the EU market are destroyed before being worn, a phenomenon generating about 5.6 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

On 9 February 2026, the Commission adopted two implementing acts:

• a delegated regulation specifying exemptions to the destruction ban,
• and an implementing regulation setting out the harmonised reporting format for discarded products.

These two texts provide companies with operational clarity on requirements that had been established in principle since 2024.

For France, a pioneer in this area with the 2020 AGEC law which already bans the disposal of unsold non-food items, the ESPR does not create an unprecedented requirement but harmonises it at the European level.

II. Who is affected?

The ESPR's obligations regarding unsold goods apply differently depending on company size, according to the standard European legal classification from the 2013/34/EU accounting directive.

• Large companies: subject to the destruction ban from 19 July 2026 and already subject to the reporting obligation.
• Medium-sized companies: subject to the same obligations from 19 July 2030 onwards.
• Small and micro-enterprises: exempt from the destruction ban and the reporting obligation, but still bound by the general duty of prevention.

The regulation applies to products placed on the European Union market, whether the company is established in the EU or in a third country. A non-European brand selling clothing or footwear to European consumers, including through e-commerce alone, therefore falls within the scope as soon as it meets the relevant size thresholds.

III. What obligations apply?

The ESPR system for unsold goods is based on three distinct pillars:

• The duty of prevention (Article 23): all economic operators, regardless of size, must take reasonable measures to prevent unsold products from needing to be destroyed. This obligation already applies, independently of any implementing acts.
• The reporting obligation (Article 24): large companies that discard unsold products, directly or through a third party, must publicly disclose information on the number and weight of products concerned, reasons for discarding, breakdown between reuse, recycling, recovery, and disposal, as well as prevention measures taken and planned. The implementing regulation of 9 February 2026 lists more than fifty categories of products concerned, identified by their customs nomenclature code (NC code), notably including textiles and leather goods, electronics and household appliances, furniture and bedding, toys and tyres. This obligation already applies to large companies. The harmonised reporting format, introduced by the 2026 implementing regulation, will apply from March 2027.
• The destruction ban (Article 25): from 19 July 2026, large companies will no longer be allowed to destroy unsold clothing, fashion accessories or footwear, unless they can rely on one of the exemptions provided for in the delegated regulation of 9 February 2026. The Commission may extend this list to other product categories by delegated act.

IV. What are the exemptions to the destruction of unsold goods?

The delegated regulation of 9 February 2026 sets out ten specific circumstances in which destruction remains permitted, each subject to a specific documentation requirement to be kept for five years:

1. Dangerous product as defined by the General Product Safety Regulation.
2. Non-compliance with legislation for a reason other than product safety (for example, a human rights violation in the production chain).
3. Violation of an intellectual property right, established by a court decision, an alternative dispute resolution method, a notification from the rights holder or a documented internal investigation.
4. Expiry of a licence temporarily restricting sale or distribution of the product, subject to demonstrating the destruction's proportionality.
5. Technical impossibility to prepare the product for reuse, notably when it is not possible to remove protected or inappropriate elements.
6. Damaged or deteriorated product, whenever repair is neither technically possible nor economically viable.
7. Design or manufacturing flaw rendering the product unusable, with no possibility of repair.
8. Donation refused, after an offer made to at least three social and solidarity economy organisations or after being made available online for at least eight weeks.
9. Donation received by a social and solidarity economy organisation with no recipient found.
10. Preparation for reuse by a waste treatment operator with no recipient found.

Even when an exemption applies, destruction must comply with the waste treatment hierarchy, giving recycling priority over other forms of recovery and over disposal.

V. In practice

To prepare for the 19 July 2026 deadline, large companies should in particular:

• Check their category under the European accounting directive, taking into account the consolidation rules applying to groups.
• Map their unsold goods flows by category, season, and legal entity, and audit their current discarding processes.
• Structure an unsold goods management policy that prioritises donation, resale, reuse, repair and recycling over destruction.
• Systematically document each use of an exemption, retaining appropriate evidence for five years and being able to provide it to authorities within thirty days.
• Prepare the necessary data collection systems for the harmonised report that will apply from 2027 onwards, anticipating its interaction with the CSRD sustainability report where applicable.
• Keep in mind the anti-circumvention mechanism of Article 25(2): a company not subject to the ban cannot destroy, on behalf of a third party, unsold goods that the ban would prevent that third party from destroying itself.

VI. Next steps

19 July 2026 marks a first deadline. The harmonised reporting format will come into force around March 2027. The destruction ban and reporting obligation will extend to medium-sized companies as of 19 July 2030. The Commission may also expand the list of products subject to the destruction ban if available data justify it, with the ESPR 2025-2030 work plan specifically mentioning furniture as a sector likely to be included.