New EU rules to stop destruction of unsold clothes and shoes
environment.ec.europa.eu
The measures under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation will allow businesses to benefit from a more circular economy.

Instead of discarding stock, companies are encouraged to manage their stock more effectively, handle returns, and explore alternatives such as resale, remanufacturing, donations, or reuse.

The ban on destruction of unsold apparel, clothing accessories and footwear and the derogations will apply to large companies from 19 July 2026. Medium-sized companies are expected to follow in 2030. The rules on disclosure under the ESPR already apply to large companies and will also apply to medium-sized companies in 2030.

  • blinfabian@feddit.nlEnglish
    1·
    2 months ago

    just put the unsold clothing in:

    • thriftstores
    • outlet stores
    • stores that buy a lot of unwanted products for almost nothing and then sell it for very cheap
    • Taleya@aussie.zoneEnglish
      1·
      2 months ago

      Make things readily available for lower prices? But what about the prestige from manufactured scarcity???

  • stoy@lemmy.zipEnglish
    1·
    2 months ago

    Clothing donations to poor countries destroys their own industry, why pay a local clothing manufacturer if Europe will send clothing for free?

    Clothing donations can be great, but it is easy to use that as a mask for dumping unwanted clothing in other countries.

  • huppakee@piefed.socialEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    This is a great step, but the most premium of these clothes get burned to keep the value of the rest high. These companies will just shred them to fibers for insulation (which is recycling, not destruction). Just banning something won’t change their profit-focused mindset.

    • geissi@feddit.orgEnglish
      1·
      2 months ago

      shred them to fibers for insulation (which is recycling, not destruction).

      The regulation seems quite vague at this point but the argument that shredding jeans is not destroying them does not seem very convincing to me, even if the material is then recycled.

      I guess we’ll have to wait for the definition of more specific rules to see what destruction is permissible.

  • mavu@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    nice way to get rid of trash inside of europe. this shit will just be sold to a different company somewhere else and burned there.

    • luciferofastora@feddit.orgEnglish
      1·
      2 months ago

      Laws can only effectively bind international companies if they’re applied internationally. So long as I can just move the problem out of your jurisdiction, that jurisdiction is little more than an inconvenience.

      On the other hand, just doing nothing because it won’t work anyway isn’t viable either. I guess the best thing to hope for would be for more countries to follow suit until they’re running out of places to dodge to.