ESPR destruction ban for textiles and footwear applies

Since 19 July 2026, Article 25 of the Ecodesign Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 has been applicable. Large companies in the EU may no longer destroy unsold clothing, clothing accessories and footwear. The European Commission announced the start of application separately on 17 July 2026.

Who is affected

What matters is company size under the EU definition:

A company counts as large from 250 employees, or with more than EUR 50 million in annual turnover or more than EUR 43 million in annual balance sheet total. The classification includes linked enterprises - a detail that in practice decides whether a brand with 180 employees of its own is already covered today.

What changes in practice

For companies covered, destruction remains permissible only in narrowly defined cases: unsafe or damaged goods, counterfeits and infringements of intellectual property rights, and where an offer to non-profit recipients has been refused. Anyone relying on one of these exemptions must document it - through records or test results, for instance - and disclose annually which quantities were sorted out for which reasons. Evidence has to be kept for five years.

Operationally this does not hit the legal department but the design of returns and warehouse processes: remaining stock, B-goods and rejected returns now need a documented recovery route, not just a disposal line item.

What does not change

The destruction ban is not a product passport. It creates no DPP obligation for textiles and requires no article-level data such as material composition or origin. Both sit in the same regulation but follow separate timelines: the DPP obligation for textiles arises only with the delegated act for the product group, which had not yet been adopted at the beginning of September 2026.

Exemptions, documentation duties and size thresholds in detail: The ban on destroying unsold textiles and footwear.