Portuguese 
The rule took effect on July 19, 2026, covering clothing, fashion accessories, and footwear; companies must ensure that new stocks do not become waste, except for documented exceptions outlined in European legislation.
As of July 19, 2026, large companies subject to European Union regulations are prohibited from destroying certain unsold clothing, accessories, and footwear. This measure aims to prevent new products from ending up as waste without ever being used.
The change comes in response to an estimated waste of hundreds of thousands of tons. The European Environment Agency estimates that between 4% and 9% of textile products placed on the European market were destroyed before use, equivalent to an estimated range of 264,000 to 594,000 tons.
Prohibition began on July 19
The basis for this change is the EU Regulation 2024/1781, which created a new European framework for ecodesign of sustainable products.
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Article 25 expressly states that, starting on July 19, 2026, the destruction of unsold consumer products included in Annex VII is prohibited. This list encompasses clothing, fashion accessories, and footwear.
However, this does not mean that any item marketed as a “fashion accessory” is automatically covered. The regulation works with specific product categories defined in its annex.
The legislation also establishes a broader principle: economic operators must take reasonable measures to prevent the need to destroy unsold consumer products.
In practice, this rule changes how surplus stock, out-of-season products, and returned goods that can still remain in circulation are handled.
Small businesses are exempt from the direct prohibition
The application of this rule does not occur uniformly across businesses of all sizes.
Micro and small enterprises are exempt from the prohibition stated in Article 25. For medium-sized companies, the rule will start to be enforced on July 19, 2030.
Thus, starting in July 2026, the direct impact will be concentrated on large companies subject to the regulation.
There is also a safeguard against attempts to circumvent the legislation: operators that are exempt cannot destroy goods received from another company to avoid the application of the prohibition.
The measure aims to prevent, for instance, the simple transfer of stock to a smaller company solely for the purpose of destroying it outside the main structure of the responsible group.
Discounts, repairs, refurbishment, and donations gain importance
The new European model focuses on prevention. If an item remains usable, the priority is to prevent it from becoming waste.
The complementary regulation on exceptions recognizes alternatives such as remanufacturing, refurbishment, and donation, in addition to preparing for reuse. The European Environment Agency also suggests that stock and returns can be sent back to stores, sold at a discount, forwarded to outlets, or diverted to other channels.
The logic is to maintain the economic and material value of the product for as long as possible, rather than eliminating an item that has already consumed raw materials, energy, transportation, and other resources to be manufactured.
This is particularly relevant in the fashion sector, characterized by a wide variety of models, colors, sizes, and collections. According to the European Environment Agency, this diversity makes it harder to predict exactly which products will be sold and can result in surplus stock.
There Are Exceptions, but Companies Must Prove Them
The prohibition is not absolute.
The EU Delegated Regulation 2026/296, adopted by the European Commission in February 2026, outlines the circumstances under which destruction remains permissible.
One such circumstance involves products deemed hazardous. Another includes goods that do not comply with European or national legislation, where destruction is required or deemed an appropriate and proportional corrective measure.
There are also exceptions for products that infringe intellectual property rights, including verifiable cases of counterfeiting or valid licensing restrictions.
Physically damaged, deteriorated, or contaminated products can also be destroyed when repair or refurbishment is not technically feasible or economically justified.
Design or manufacturing defects that render the goods unsuitable for their intended purpose are included among the covered situations, provided that the issue cannot be technically repaired.
Before Destroying, Even the Attempt to Donate May Be Required
One of the more specific requirements arises when none of the primary exceptions apply.
In this case, the regulation allows destruction if the product has been offered directly to at least three suitable entities within the social economy located in the European Union and none accept the donation.
Another option is to announce the donation offer on an easily accessible page of the company’s own website for at least eight weeks, without securing a recipient.
This makes donation a concrete step outlined in the regulation for certain situations, rather than just a generic recommendation.
Companies must also retain documentation for five years proving why a specific product was destroyed under an exception.
If a competent authority requests these records, the documentation must be made available electronically within the timeframe stipulated by the regulation.
Recycling a New Garment Can Also Be Considered Destruction
The rule contains an important detail: simply shredding a new garment to recycle its fibers does not automatically mean the company has fulfilled the objective of avoiding destruction.
For this regime, deliberately converting an unused product into waste for recycling can also fall under the concept of destruction. The European Environment Agency employs the same interpretation in its analysis.
When one of the exceptions provided by legislation allows a product to be destroyed, the European waste hierarchy must be respected.
In this context, recycling takes precedence over other forms of recovery, including energy recovery, and over disposal operations.
Therefore, the sequence is not merely about substituting incineration with recycling. The primary goal is to prevent a usable good from becoming waste.
Between 264,000 and 594,000 Tons Were Estimated Annually
The extent of the problem is highlighted in a report by the European Environment Agency.
Based on available studies, the agency estimated that between 4% and 9% of all textile products placed on the European market were destroyed before being used for their intended purpose.
This range corresponds to approximately 264,000 to 594,000 tons.
These numbers should be treated as estimates, and not as a direct count of everything that has actually been destroyed by companies.
The European Environment Agency explains that there is little transparency and a limited amount of data available on the fate of returned goods and unsold stock.
To calculate this range, the study referenced an apparent consumption of about 6.6 million tons of textile products in the European Union in 2020 and applied the estimated destruction proportion of 4% to 9%.
The result was exactly the interval of 264,000 to 594,000 tons of textiles destroyed that year before use.
One in five clothes purchased online is returned
Returns also help explain the scale of the challenge.
The European Environment Agency estimates that the average return rate for clothes purchased online in Europe is 20%, equivalent to one item returned for every five bought online.
For shoes sold online, the agency’s estimated average return rate is even higher, around 30%.
Not all returned merchandise is destroyed. Products may return to stock, be resold at full price, or receive discounts for having minor defects, being out of season, or losing space in collections.
Still, the agency estimated that between 22% and 43% of clothes returned after online purchases ended up being destroyed, with an average close to one-third.
Companies will also have to disclose what they discard
In addition to the ban, the European regulation increases transparency regarding discarded stocks.
Operators subject to the obligations must annually disclose information such as the quantity and weight of discarded unsold products, reasons for disposal, and the proportion intended for preparation for reuse, recycling, other forms of recovery, or disposal.
They must also report measures already taken and planned to avoid the destruction of unsold goods.
With the ban set to take effect on July 19, 2026, the European Union will directly address a practice that has allowed new clothes and shoes to end up as waste for years.
For large companies covered by the regulation, unsold stock will no longer be, except in regulated and proven exceptions, merchandise that can simply be discarded without first seeking ways to preserve its use and value.
