2023-12-05 16:20:00
The EU is pursuing this goal with the ban on the destruction of clothing and the possibility of extending this to other products in the future to make products last longer, repairable and recyclable.
Brussels (dpa) – .
Larger retailers will no longer be allowed to destroy unsold clothing in the EU in the future. Negotiators from the European Parliament and the EU states also agreed that the EU Commission can extend the ban to other products in the future, as the two negotiating sides announced. According to the information, there are exceptions for small companies and a transition period of six years for medium-sized companies. In principle, the ban should be applied two years after the regulation comes into force.
It is unclear exactly how many tonnes of unsold clothing are destroyed in the EU each year. In the future, large companies will have to disclose every year how many unsold products they sort out and why. “This is expected to strongly discourage companies from using this practice,” the EU Commission said. The Federal Environment Ministry writes on its website that, according to a 2019 study by the University of Bamberg, almost four percent of returns are destroyed. That’s around 20 million products per year in Germany.
Parliament and EU states still have to officially approve the agreement, but this is considered a formality. The background to the new ban is a Commission proposal from March 2022 on the so-called Ecodesign Regulation. This means that products last longer, are easier to reuse, repair and recycle and use fewer resources such as energy and water.
It has not yet been determined in detail which specific additional requirements will apply to individual products. The agreement states that the Commission can issue legally binding requirements to make goods such as furniture, tires, detergents, paints or chemicals more environmentally friendly. But numerous raw materials such as iron, steel and aluminum are also covered by the regulation. Exceptions are made for cars or military products, for example.
More transparency with the product passport
The chairwoman of the Internal Market Committee in the EU Parliament, Anna Cavazzini (Greens), emphasized that there will also be a repair index in the future. This would enable consumers to see when purchasing how easily a product can be repaired. According to information from the EU institutions, they should also have access to further information about the product – for example via a QR code. This digital product passport could contain information about a product’s carbon footprint, energy or water consumption, or recycled content. The exact details for each product are still to be determined.
CDU MEP Peter Liese welcomed the agreement. The charm is that product specifications not only apply to EU manufacturers, but also to imports. “This means that Chinese and American companies that want to sell their devices on the European market must also adhere to the rules.” He also pointed out that Parliament could stop new product specifications from the EU Commission if in doubt. (dpa)
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