From this July, large fashion brands will no longer be able to destroy unsold clothing and footwear in the European Union. The practice — long an open secret in the industry — will become illegal for large companies from 19th July 2026, under rules adopted by the European Commission earlier this month.
The numbers behind the ban are striking. Somewhere between four and nine percent of all clothing placed on the EU market is destroyed before anyone ever wears it. That translates to around 5.6 million tons of CO2 emissions every year — produced not by making clothes, but by getting rid of them.
The new rules are simple in principle: instead of burning or binning excess stock and customer returns, companies must find another use for them. Resale, donation, reuse, remanufacturing or recycling are all acceptable. Destruction is not.
Who has to comply and when
Large companies face the ban first, from 19th July this year. Medium-sized businesses have until 2030. The rules apply to any brand selling into the EU market, regardless of where the company or its products are based — meaning global giants cannot sidestep the legislation simply by manufacturing or operating outside Europe.
From February 2027, large companies will also be required to report annually on how much unsold stock they destroyed, why, and what steps they are taking to prevent it in future. Micro and small enterprises are exempt.
The bigger picture
The ban is part of the EU’s broader Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, which came into force in 2024 and is gradually extending sustainability requirements across almost every category of physical goods sold in Europe. One of its central features is a Digital Product Passport — a structured record of a product’s materials, origins, recyclability and environmental footprint that will eventually accompany goods throughout their lifecycle.
For fashion brands, the practical implications go well beyond what happens to unsold stock. Inventory forecasting, returns management and sustainability reporting will all need to adapt. The era of treating destruction as a convenient solution to overproduction is, at least within the EU, coming to an end.
Stay updated with Monaco Life: sign up for our free newsletter, catch our podcast on Spotify, and follow us across Facebook,  Instagram, LinkedIn, and Tik Tok.
Photo credit: Jimmy Funkhouser, Unsplash