The EU ban on destroying unsold clothing: what a fashion brand must do

Who it applies to

The size test comes from the EU definition of small and medium-sized enterprises (Recommendation 2003/361/EC), not from accounting law. Group companies count together, and a company only changes category after crossing a threshold two years in a row.

A company that is exempt may not take goods off a large company's hands in order to destroy them for it; the regulation closes that route explicitly.

What counts as destruction, and which products

The regulation defines destruction as intentionally damaging or discarding a product as waste. The only carve out is discarding for the sole purpose of preparing the product for reuse, refurbishment or remanufacturing. Incineration, landfill, shredding and recycling are all destruction under this definition.

"Unsold consumer product" explicitly includes surplus stock, excess inventory, deadstock and goods a consumer returned under the right of withdrawal. The products in scope are listed by customs code in Annex VII:

The ten exceptions

Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/296 allows destruction only in these cases. For each one you must keep proof for five years and hand it over within 30 days when an authority asks.

1. The product is dangerous under the General Product Safety Regulation.
2. The product does not comply with the law that applies to it.
3. The product infringes intellectual property rights, such as counterfeits.
4. A licence that allowed the product to be sold has expired and the product may not be sold.
5. Branding cannot technically be removed for reuse.
6. The product is damaged, including returns and hygiene reasons, and repair is not feasible or not cost effective.
7. The product has a defect that cannot be repaired.
8. As a last resort: the product was offered for donation for at least eight weeks, either directly to at least three suitable social economy entities in the EU or on an easy to find page of your website, and nobody accepted it.
9. The product was donated, but no recipient was found.
10. The product was prepared for reuse by a waste operator and offered again, but no recipient was found.

Exception 8 is the one most brands will reach for, and it is also the one that takes longest. Plan it before the season ends, not after.

What you must publish

Companies that discard unsold consumer products must publish once a year, on an easy to find page of their own website: the number and weight of products discarded per category, the reasons and the exceptions used, the share that went to reuse, recycling, other recovery and disposal, and what they do to prevent it. This duty covers all unsold consumer products, not only clothing. It already applies to large companies, applies to medium-sized companies from 19 July 2030 and does not apply to micro and small companies. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2 applies from 2 March 2027 and sets a standard format, grouped by customs code, from the first full financial year after that date; the disclosure is due within twelve months after that year ends. Donated products do not count as discarded.

The rules per country

Netherlands. The ESPR applies directly. As of October 2026 no Dutch act names the authority that enforces the destruction ban or sets its fines; the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) supervises the environmental aspects of products and the extended producer responsibility for textiles. That scheme, the UPV Textiel, has applied since 1 July 2023 to new clothing and household textiles: producers organise collection and must meet rising targets for reuse and recycling in 2025 and 2030.

Germany. The ESPR is implemented through the Ökodesign-Gesetz of 22 June 2026, whose main provisions take effect on 1 November 2026. The federal states enforce it. The government draft set fines of up to €100,000 for destruction and up to €10,000 for lesser breaches. The duty of care in § 23 of the Kreislaufwirtschaftsgesetz has existed since 2020, but the reporting regulation that was to make it enforceable for returns and unsold goods has not been adopted.

France. Since 1 January 2022 the AGEC law (article L541-15-8 of the Code de l'environnement) has banned eliminating unsold new non-food products, textiles included: they must be reused, donated or recycled. Fines run up to €3,000 per breach for a natural person and €15,000 for a company. The difference matters: AGEC accepts recycling, the ESPR does not. A large company selling in France now has to meet the stricter EU rule.

Spain. Since April 2022, article 18 of Ley 7/2022 has banned destroying or landfilling unsold surplus of non-perishable products such as textiles, unless another law or safety requires it. Surplus must go to reuse first, including donation.

Italy. No national ban on destroying unsold textiles was found beyond the ESPR. A draft decree on extended producer responsibility for textiles has been put out for consultation.

All member states. Directive (EU) 2025/1892 makes extended producer responsibility for textiles and footwear mandatory: every member state must have a scheme in place by 17 April 2028.

Checklist: what to set up now