Every year, hundreds of thousands of tons of perfectly usable clothing are destroyed across Europe before even reaching a consumer. But now that era is over.
Through the EU’s strengthened ecodesign regulation, ESPR, it is now prohibited for large companies to incinerate or discard unsold clothing, accessories and shoes.
The new ban puts significant pressure on the fashion and e-commerce industries, where overstocking and inaccurate volume forecasts have long been a costly companion. According to the EU’s environmental agency EEA, between 4 and 9 percent of all textiles placed on the European market are destroyed, equivalent to up to 594,000 tons of garments per year.
Strict Requirements and Significant Sanctions
The ban, found in Article 25 of the ecodesign regulation, means that the clothing must be moved up the so-called waste hierarchy. Grinding unsold garments into filling material or burning them for energy recovery is generally considered unlawful destruction. Instead, the EU requires brands to resell the goods at a reduced price, donate them or ensure they are reused.
Companies are now forced to annually publish exactly how many unsold products they discard and why. For companies that violate the ban, oversight from national authorities and significant fines await, with each member state setting its own sanction fees and penalty orders.
From 2030, the ban will also apply to medium-sized companies, while small businesses are exempt.
Brand Protection – Retailers’ Major Dilemma
The historical discarding of unsold collections has rarely been about malice, but about protecting the brand’s value. E-commerce companies and fashion houses have wanted to avoid their garments being dumped on discount markets or sold through the wrong channels in a way that erodes pricing and exclusivity.
This dilemma led textile engineer Louise Wintzell, with a background from companies including Ridestore, Nilson Group and Ikea, to develop the digital B2B platform Hidnstock. The solution functions as an anonymous and traceable marketplace for overstock and deadstock:
The best thing would be not to produce too much in the first place. But what already exists should be used, not destroyed, and both the material and creativity are already there. What is missing is the bridge between the surplus and those who want to create from it, says Louise Wintzell.
AI Matches Surplus with Designers
Via the platform, brands can sell their unsold batches in bulk to verified designers, remake companies and circular actors who sew and refine the textiles into new products. The sale takes place anonymously, and the buyer commits to removing the brand’s logo before the garments reach the market.
Each batch is also digitally traceable, allowing e-commerce companies to show authorities that the stock has not been destroyed but has actually been reused, while a previous destruction cost is transformed into revenue.
With the help of built-in AI, the surplus is automatically matched with buyers’ demand and generates dynamic price proposals based on transaction history. The goal is to make large-scale remake a commercial reality when legislation forces a paradigm shift in fashion retail.