ESPR destruction ban What should teams do about unsold goods?

No. ESPR sets a general prevention principle for unsold consumer products, a disclosure duty for economic operators that discard unsold consumer products, and a specific prohibition for the consumer products listed in Annex VII.

Article 23 says economic operators must take reasonably expected measures to prevent the need to destroy unsold consumer products. Article 24 is a disclosure rule. Article 25 is the prohibition rule, and it applies first to the Annex VII list: apparel and clothing accessories, plus footwear.

Article 24 requires economic operators that discard unsold consumer products directly, or have them discarded on their behalf, to publish annual information in a clear and visible manner at least on an easily accessible website page.

The disclosure is not only a count. ESPR asks for the number and weight by product type or category, reasons for discarding, relevant derogations where applicable, the proportion sent to preparing for reuse, recycling, other recovery, or disposal, and measures taken or planned to prevent destruction.

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2 applies its standard format from 2 March 2027. For products discarded in each financial year beginning with the first full financial year after that date, the disclosure is due within 12 months after year-end. The format uses Combined Nomenclature product categories, kilograms, a marker for estimated values, weight-based treatment percentages, and an unknown category where treatment information cannot be obtained.

The cited product list is Annex VII. It names apparel and clothing accessories, including leather or composition-leather apparel and accessories, knitted or crocheted apparel and accessories, non-knitted or non-crocheted apparel and accessories, and specified headgear. It also names footwear under commodity codes 6401 to 6405.

The Commission can amend Annex VII to add products, but Article 25 requires evidence work before doing so: prevalence and environmental impacts must be assessed, Article 24 disclosure information must be considered, and an impact assessment must be based on best available evidence and analyses.

Article 24 says the disclosure paragraph does not apply to micro and small enterprises and applies to medium-sized enterprises from 19 July 2030. Article 25 uses the same micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise timing for the Annex VII prohibition.

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/296 now sets the operative derogations for Annex VII products. Destruction is allowed only where a listed circumstance applies and the operator can present the required documentation. The circumstances cover dangerous or otherwise legally non-compliant products, non-repairable damage, certain returned or unsaleable products, substantiated intellectual-property infringement, failed donation, and lack of technical feasibility for reuse or remanufacturing.

Calculate enterprise size before relying on an exclusion. Microenterprises have fewer than 10 annual work units and turnover or a balance-sheet total no higher than EUR 2 million; small enterprises have fewer than 50 and either financial measure no higher than EUR 10 million. The wider micro, small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) category requires fewer than 250 and turnover no higher than EUR 50 million or a balance-sheet total no higher than EUR 43 million. Use the latest approved annual accounts; a newly established enterprise without approved accounts uses a good-faith estimate for the financial year. Add partner-enterprise data in proportion to the capital or voting-rights interest, using the higher percentage, and add 100 percent of linked-enterprise data not already consolidated. Check the two-consecutive-accounting-period rule before deciding that size status changed.

Keep evidence that proves which ESPR track applied: prevention only, disclosure, Annex VII prohibition, or a specific derogation path. The record should be usable by sustainability reporting, product, legal, logistics, and marketplace teams without relying on local knowledge.

Because Article 24 allows authorities to request information and documentation demonstrating delivery and reception of discarded products, evidence should follow the product flow from internal decision through the third party or waste-treatment destination.