EU ban on destroying unsold clothes brings little change for Estonian traders

Large companies in the European Union may no longer destroy unsold new clothing, accessories or footwear, but the rule is unlikely to significantly affect Estonian retailers and producers, ERR reported.

Under the EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, which took effect on July 19, unsold goods must, where possible, be sold, donated, repaired, prepared for reuse or recycled. The ban will also apply to medium-sized companies from 2030, while small and micro-enterprises are generally exempt.

Mihkel Krusberg, head of circularity and financing at the circular economy department of Estonia’s Ministry of Climate, said the regulation introduces new requirements for almost all products sold on the EU market.

“Clothing, accessories and footwear may not simply be destroyed. Where possible, they must be sold, donated, repaired, prepared for reuse or recycled,” Krusberg told ERR. The requirements apply to the company that places the product on the EU market or has the unsold goods in its possession, whether it is a manufacturer, importer, wholesaler or retailer.

Liina Männamaa, development and administration director at department store Kaubamaja AS, said the company had never destroyed its products.

“Clothing and footwear left unsold at Kaubamaja during the season are sent to the Leiupood store, where they can be bought at a significantly lower price. We sell them there until the products are gone. Some of the remaining stock is also returned to suppliers,” she said.

As a result, the regulation does not directly change Kaubamaja’s operations, Männamaa said, because the company has worked this way for years.

Producers seek to prevent surplus stock

Ruta Rannala, executive director of the Estonian Clothing and Textile Association, said the change would have little effect on the association’s members. Most are micro, small or medium-sized companies by EU standards, and there are very few large companies among them.

The association’s members are also mainly export-oriented. They produce goods for other brands based on specific orders, but do not place the products on the market themselves.

Estonian companies that produce goods under their own brands make carefully calculated quantities and sell them until they are gone. Rannala expects them to calculate and adjust their production batches even more precisely in the future to avoid creating surplus stock.

“The risks are greatest where millions of units of goods are produced, with products changing frequently and quickly, what is commonly called streetwear or fast fashion. We do not have such producers in Estonia,” Rannala said.

She added that companies had already begun voluntarily addressing some of the issues covered by the regulation, including the digital product passport.

Rannala noted that the regulation considers anyone who places a product on the market under their own name to be a producer, including companies importing textile products from third countries. Companies that bring in excessive stocks and cannot sell them within a reasonable time will need a strategy for continuing their operations. Rannala said she believed the EU would monitor such higher-risk companies.

“I would not say that nobody will have problems. I do think problems will arise, but I do not see them as significant in the context of producers,” Rannala said, adding that the regulation’s impact would be more noticeable on importers.

Estonian consumers buy almost all discounted products, the article said.