A new law that will place a ban on the destruction of unsold clothing, accessories, and footwear across Europe is now one last step away from coming into force.

This week, the European Parliament approved new rules to make products sold in the EU more reusable, repairable, upgradable, and recyclable – a move hailed the signalling gun for a time to “put an end to the harmful take, make, throw away” model.

Labelled as a key element of the European Green Deal, the revised Ecodesign Regulation is one part of a wider approach to moving the EU towards a circular economy in which materials are used and reused more efficiently.

This will be a fundamental aspect within the EU’s goal of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

This regulation updates a directive established in 2009 which focused exclusively on the efficiency and circularity of energy-related products. The law adopted by European Parliament this week now calls to focus on resource-intensive sectors like iron, steel, aluminium, textiles, furniture, paints, and others.

It also formally introduces Digital Product Passports which will contain information on performance, traceability, and compliance requirements. This data will be accessible to consumers via a public web portal to help them make more informed purchases.

The text will encourage recycling by obliging economic operators to declare the amount of product they discard each year and the reason for their destruction.

Specifically, the rule prohibits the destruction of unsold clothing, accessories, and footwear two years after the law comes into force. It also gives the Commission the power to add additional categories to that list of unsold products that may not be destroyed.

The text now faces the final leg of its journey to being entered into EU law – the final approval from national governments.