EU: Destruction of unsold products – Is your company Ecodesign compliant?

Many companies won’t have missed that the EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (“ESPR”) is set to bring in revolutionary new rules to improve the environmental sustainability of products placed on the EU market. Perhaps you’ve also heard about buzzwords like the Digital Product Passport, upcoming information and product requirements, and maybe you’ve even read a newspaper article or two about the ban on the destruction of unsold fashion products as of July 2026.

But did you know that the ESPR’s rules on the destruction of unsold consumer goods don’t just apply to fashion companies? While the ban on destruction only applies to apparel, clothing accessories and footwear, the ESPR imposes disclosure requirements for all products that are covered by the Regulation.

Following the Commission’s adoption of the disclosure format and derogations earlier this month, let’s take a closer look at these requirements.

Disclosure on destruction of unsold consumer goods

In order to give some teeth to the general obligation to take measures to prevent the need to destroy unsold consumer products, the ESPR requires companies to disclose any unsold consumer goods that they discard or have discarded on their behalf as of the first financial year following the ESPR’s entry into force in July 2024.

This obligation covers final products that are placed on the EU market and primarily intended for consumers. A product will, for instance, be considered unsold if it concerns surplus stock, excess inventory, deadstock or even products that have been returned by a consumer.

Format for disclosure

For the moment, companies are free to choose their own format as long as the information is disclosed in a clear and visible manner on an easily accessible website page, and it contains the following:

1. Number and weight of unsold consumer products discarded, differentiated per category of products
2. Reasons for discarding the products
3. Waste treatment methods
4. Measures taken and planned to prevent destruction

As of March 2027, the table contained in the Commission’s new Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2 will become mandatory. As part of the table, products must be specified according to the first two (or sometimes the first four) digits of their combined nomenclature (CN) code, a system that is already used for customs declarations and trade statistics.

Importantly, documentation demonstrating delivery and reception of discarded products must be retained for five years following disclosure. 

Derogations

For fashion companies, the reason for discarding apparel, clothing accessories or footwear, must match up with the derogations to the ban on destruction. 

Just in time for the ban to take effect on 19 July 2026, the Commission adopted (but has yet to officially publish) a Delegated Regulation setting out the derogations. The Delegated Act sets out a wide range of derogations, causing some parties to question whether the ban will truly be effective, whilst others have pointed to the administrative burden that the system imposes.

Derogations from the prohibition on destruction of unsold products include the following categories:

1. Dangerous products
2. Products that are non-compliant with EU or national law
3. Intellectual property right infringement
4. Expiry of licence period
5. Products that are unsuitable for reuse or remanufacturing due to the unfeasibility of removing labels, logos, product design or other characteristics that infringe upon IP rights or are considered inappropriate
6. Damaged products for which repair or refurbishment is not feasible or cost-effective
7. Products that are unfit for purpose or have manufacturing defects
8. Products that are not accepted for donation after having been offered to at least three social economy entities within the EU or online for a period of at least 8 weeks
9. Products for which no recipient could be found after donation
10. Products for which no recipient could be found after they were prepared for reuse

Depending on the category, different documentation needs to be collected and kept for 5 years as from the moment of destruction. Said documentation must also be electronically made available to the authorities within 30 days of any request.

Which companies are in scope?

The ESPR covers almost all physical products that are placed on the market in the EU, except for food, feed, medicinal products, living plants and animals, and vehicles. So, whether it’s electronics, furniture, toys, medical devices or almost any other type of product, it’s time to start disclosing the destruction of unsold consumer products.

For now, both the ban on the destruction of fashion products, as well as the general disclosure obligation only apply to large companies, with medium-sized enterprises following suit in July 2030. Micro and small enterprises will remain out of scope, unless they destroy unsold consumer products that are only supplied to them to circumvent the prohibition.

What steps to take now?

As disclosure is already mandatory, companies that have any unsold consumer goods destroyed should be getting ready to make an adequate disclosure on their website over the last financial year. This applies even if it’s just those pesky products that are returned damaged by a consumer, or there’s another good reason for destruction.

In anticipation of the obligatory disclosure format as of March 2027, companies also need to ensure that the information they track and collect fits the format. 

Finally, more efficient stock management, improved returns handling, and exploring alternatives such as reuse, upcycling and remanufacturing could all be part of measures to reduce the need to destroy products in future.