EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) *

Sep 15

Updated 16, September 2026 | by Lydia Brearley

What is the EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation?

The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) entered into force on 18th July 2024, and is the cornerstore of the Commission’s approach to more environmentally sustainable and circular products.
The ESPR is a package of measures that are central to achieving the aims of the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) and foster the transition to a circular, sustainable and competitive economy.
The ESPR will contribute to helping the EU reach its environmental and climate goals.
The ESPR aims to significantly improve the sustainability of products placed on the EU market by improving their circularity, energy performance, recyclability and durability.

What does it include?

The ESPR includes 3 important measures:

1) Digital Product Passport

The ESPR will introduce a Digital Product Passport (DPP) - a digital identity card for products, components, and materials, which will store relevant information to support products’ sustainability, promote their circularity and strengthen legal compliance.
This information will be accessible electronically, making it easier for consumers, manufacturers, and authorities to make more informed decisions related to sustainability, circularity and regulatory compliance.
It will also allow custom authorities to perform automatic checks on the existence and authenticity of the DPPs of imported products.
Information to be included in the DPP will be identified by the Commission, in close consultation with all relevant stakeholders, and will depend on the specific product in question.
This information can include:
→ Product’s technical performance
→ Materials and their origins
→ Repair activities
→ Recycling capabilities
→ Lifecycle environmental impacts

2) Rules to address destruction of unsold consumer products

Many unsold products in the EU are simply destroyed, a practice that wastes valuable resources.
The ESPR introduces measures to address this practice by introducing a ban on the destruction of unsold textiles and footwear, opening the way for similar bans in other sectors if evidence shows they are needed.
It will also require large and eventually medium-sized companies across all product sectors to disclose annual information on unsold consumer products on their website, such as the number and weight of products they discard, as well as their reasons for doing so.

3) Green Public Procurement

Public authorities in the EU spend around €1.8 trillion purchasing works, goods and services.
The ESPR will help steer these funds in a more sustainable direction by enabling mandatory Green Public Procurement rules to be set for specific products.
Under those rules, public authorities who purchase the products concerned will be required to purchase products that meet the highest levels of performance in terms of sustainability and circularity.
This has the potential to significantly boost demand for sustainable products, in turn, further incentivising companies to invest in this area.

Why is it important for fashion?

As we know, the fashion industry is hugely impactful and has drastic consequences on our natural resources and planetary boundaries.
The ESPR will take a significant step towards better protecting our planet, fostering more sustainable business models, and strengthening the overall competitiveness and resilience of the EU economy.
The ESPR enables the setting of performance and information rules – known as ‘ecodesign requirements’ to make products inherently more sustainable.
Ecodesign requirements include:
→ Improving product durability, reusability, upgradability and reparability
→ Enhancing the possibility of product maintenance and refurbishment
→ Making products more energy and resource-efficient
→ Addressing the presence of substances that inhibit circularity
→ Increasing recycled content
→ Making products easier to remanufacture and recycle
→ Setting rules on carbon and environmental footprints
→ Limiting the generation of waste
→ Improving the availability of information on product sustainability

Background and Context

The ESPR replaces the Ecodesign Directive 2009/215/EC, and establishes a framework for setting ecodesign requirements on specific product groups.
The Ecodesign Directive applied to only energy-related products - the ESPR extends this scope to cover virtually all physical products.
There are only a exemptions to the ESPR requirements - such as food and feed and medicinal products.
The ESPR reinforces the range of ecodesign requirements that can be set for products, which can comprise requirements relating to durability, circularity and the overall reduction of the environmental and climate footprint of products, amongst many others.
This will strengthen the Single Market by avoiding diverging legislation in each Member State and create economic opportunities for innovation and job creation, notably in remanufacturing, maintenance, recycling and repair.