The ESPR is a cornerstone of the European Green Deal and the 2020 Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP), reflecting the EU’s push to ensure greener, more sustainable products are produced and sold across the single market. Through delegated acts, the ESPR will introduce binding performance standards, mandatory information disclosures and a new Digital Product Passport (DPP) requirement that will reshape how products are tracked and sold.
The ESPR’s obligations will be phased in by product category, with delegated acts expected first for iron and steel, followed by textiles and apparel, tires, aluminum, furniture, and mattresses. Compliance responsibilities extend across the entire value chain, from manufacturers and importers to distributors, online marketplaces, and fulfillment service providers. A ban on destroying unsold consumer products has already come into force for large enterprises.
As the EU develops these new standards, businesses2 should closely monitor upcoming rules and sector-specific requirements.
Scope
The ESPR covers all “products,” meaning any physical goods placed on the EU market or put into service in the EU3, including components and intermediate products.4 Non-EU businesses are also included if they place goods on the EU market or put them into service there.
Certain categories of products are excluded from the ESPR’s scope, including food, medicines, and products made solely for defense or national security purposes5.
Timing
The ESPR’s substantive requirements will be rolled out in phases through delegated acts for specific product categories. The Commission will publish Working Plans setting out which products will be prioritized, and when, based on their potential to improve environmental and energy performance.
The First Working Plan (2025–2030) was adopted on April 16, 2025. Iron and steel will be the first products to receive Ecodesign requirements in 2026, followed by textiles and apparel (2027), tires (2027), aluminum (2027), furniture (2028), and mattresses (2029). “Horizontal” requirements (requirements relating to all sectors) relating to repairability and recycled content and recyclability of electrical and electronic equipment are expected in 2027 and 2029, respectively.
Certain “horizontal” ESPR provisions apply from earlier dates. The ban on destroying unsold consumer products (as listed in Annex VII of the ESPR), for example, applied to large enterprises from July 19, 2026, with medium-sized enterprises subject to this obligation from July 19, 2030. A separate implementing regulation relating to mandatory disclosure of information on the destruction of unsold consumer products also entered into force on March 1, 2026, and applies from March 2, 2027, for large enterprises.
What are the compliance requirements for in-scope products?
Under the ESPR, the Commission can set Ecodesign requirements covering a product’s entire lifecycle—from raw materials through manufacturing, use, and end-of-life in delegated acts. These take form6 as performance requirements (minimum standards a product must meet)7 or information requirements (mandatory disclosure of product attributes).8 Each delegated act will specify which requirements apply, assessment or measurement methods to be used, and transitional periods.
1. Performance requirements
Performance requirements establish thresholds for how a product must perform, based on parameters outlined in Annex I of the ESPR. These include, but are not limited to:
- durability and reliability
- ease of repair and maintenance
- ease of upgrading, reuse, remanufacturing, and refurbishment
- design for recycling, ease and quality of recycling
- use of substances (and substances of concern)
- use or consumption of energy, water, and other resources in one or more life cycle stages of the product
- environmental, carbon, and material footprint of the product
- microplastic and nanoplastic release
- emissions to air, water, or soil released in one or more lifecycle stages of the product
- waste generated.
The Commission must base performance requirements on robust technical evidence gathered through its preparatory studies. For example, preparatory studies are currently being undertaken for textile products9.
2. Information requirements
Information requirements require businesses to disclose sustainability data to consumers, regulators, and other stakeholders, such as a product’s environmental footprint, substances of concern, recycled content, energy ratings, expected lifespan, and repair or recycling instructions. This information may be provided through product labeling, product documentation, or a DPP (see below).
3. Prohibition of destruction
One of the ESPR’s most significant provisions is the prohibition on the destruction of unsold consumer products.
From July 19, 2026, large enterprises10 were prohibited from destroying unsold apparel, clothing accessories, and footwear. The prohibition applies to medium-sized enterprises11 from July 19, 2030.
This ban may be expanded to include other categories of products through the passing of delegated acts. The Commission may also adopt delegated acts to set out exemptions; for example, where products pose a health or safety risk, where they are counterfeit, where products cannot be repaired in a cost-effective manner, or where destruction is the option with the least negative environmental effects.12
In addition, businesses must disclose information about their practices of discarding unsold consumer products on an annual basis13, including the quantity of products, the reasons for discarding the products, the proportion of discarded products that will be reused, refurbished, recycled, or otherwise recovered, and any measures taken or planned to prevent the destruction of such products. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts setting out the details and format for this disclosure requirement.14 From July 19, 2027, and every three years thereafter, the Commission will publish consolidated information on the destruction of unsold consumer products.
4. The Digital Product Passport
Once a delegated act mandating a DPP for a specific product group has been adopted, products in that group can only be placed on the EU market or put into service in the EU if they have a DPP. A DPP is a digital record containing structured data about the product’s sustainability characteristics, composition, origin, and lifecycle information.15
The DPP must be accessible via a data carrier (such as a QR code) affixed to the product, its packaging, or accompanying documentation, and comply with several other essential requirements as further laid down in the ESPR.16 It will serve multiple functions: enabling consumers to access product sustainability information, facilitating customs and market surveillance activities, providing downstream actors with information needed for repair, refurbishment, and recycling, and enabling better tracking of substances of concern throughout product value chains.
The ESPR sets out certain data that could be included in DPPs17, such as:
- the product’s unique product identifier
- a Global Trade Identification Number, as provided for in standard ISO/IEC or equivalent of products or their parts
- relevant commodity codes, such as a TARIC code
- compliance documentation, such as an EU Declaration of Conformity, technical documentation, and conformity certificates
- user manuals, instructions, warnings, or safety information
- information about the manufacturer, importer, and other relevant economic operators
- unique facility identifiers.
Further detail will be set out in delegated acts.
On July 20, 2026, the Commission launched the DPP Registry together with a testing environment, which businesses can now access here.
Value chain impacts
The ESPR distributes compliance responsibilities across the value chain. Manufacturers, importers, distributors, and their authorized representatives must, among other things18:
- comply with performance and information requirements
- carry out conformity assessments
- prepare technical documentation and EU declarations of conformity
- affix labels and provide digital instructions
- provide contact details for customer inquiries
- reassess products following relevant changes. If they suspect non-compliance, they must take corrective actions to bring the product into conformity, immediately withdraw or recall the product if appropriate, and inform market surveillance authorities of such non-compliance.
Dealers, fulfillment service providers, and online marketplace providers (including online search engines) must, among other things19:
- display labels visibly and accurately
- make the DPP easily accessible
- ensure warehousing, packaging, addressing or dispatching do not compromise product compliance
- cooperate with market surveillance authorities.
Supply chain actors may also be affected, even if not in scope. Delegated acts can require them to provide relevant product information to manufacturers, conformity assessment bodies, and national authorities (on request and free of charge).
Enforcement and penalties
Penalties are at Member States’ discretion, but must be “effective, proportionate and dissuasive”20 and include, at least, fines and time-limited exclusions from public procurement.21
Factors for determining penalties include, but are not limited to:
- the nature, gravity, and duration of the infringement
- whether it was intentional or negligent
- economic benefits gained from the infringement
- environmental damage
- other aggravating or mitigating factors.22
Further, EU Member States must include ESPR-related surveillance activities in their national market surveillance strategies to ensure that appropriate checks (including physical and laboratory checks) are performed on businesses.23
Authorities may recover the costs of document inspection and physical testing from a business in the event of product non-compliance. Every four years, the Commission will publish a report that includes information on the nature and number of checks performed by authorities, the levels of non-compliance identified, the nature and severity of penalties imposed, and a list of priority products and requirements moving forward.24
Where a product is non-compliant, liability for consumer damage falls on: (i) the manufacturer, or (ii) if the manufacturer is not established in the EU, the importer or authorized representative of the manufacturer, or (iii) if the importer is not EU‑established or there is no authorized representative of the manufacturer, the fulfillment service provider. This is without prejudice to other consumer remedies under the EU or national law of Member States.25
What can you do to prepare?
Although many specific requirements are still to come via delegated acts, businesses can take these steps now:
- Review your inventory management, returns, donation, resale, remanufacturing, recycling, and waste procedures to ensure compliance with the unsold goods disclosure and destruction rules. This is critical for large enterprises operating in the textiles industry, where the ban on destruction already applies from July 19, 2026.
- Map your product portfolio and identify which products and product groups are likely to be prioritized under the ESPR’s Working Plans.
- Monitor the adoption of delegated acts, implementing acts, the activity of the Ecodesign Forum26, and developments following the First Working Plan. Consider participating in Commission consultations.
- Assess your role in the supply chain (e.g., as a manufacturer, an importer, a distributor, or another economic operator) and familiarize yourself with the obligations under each role.
- Budget for and build product data governance capabilities: identify data gaps against ESPR performance parameters (e.g., durability, repairability, upgradability, recycled content, substances of concern, energy and resource efficiency) and implement processes to gather data on these metrics. This may involve upgrading IT infrastructure and ensuring interoperability with business partners and regulators.
- Prepare your DPP data architecture: assign data owners, evaluate DPP service providers, and map the information flows needed to populate DPPs at product, batch or model level.
- Engage with suppliers early and update supplier contracts to include provisions on information sharing, audit rights, facility access, data quality warranties, and compliance warranties that map to ESPR obligations.
- Prepare evidence and recordkeeping systems in anticipation of potential market surveillance inspections.
- Train product development, procurement, sales, customs, compliance, and sustainability teams on ESPR obligations and implementation timelines.
Should you have any questions on the matters discussed in this article, please speak with any of the contacts listed below or your usual contact at A&O Shearman.
Footnotes
1. Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for energy-related products (the Ecodesign Directive).
2. The ESPR applies to “economic operators,” which include manufacturers, authorized representatives, importers, distributors, dealers, and fulfillment service providers, as defined in Article 2(46) of the ESPR.
3. As defined in Article 2 (1) of the ESPR.
4. See Article 2 (2) and 2 (3) of the ESPR.
5. See Articles 1(2) and 5(5) of the ESPR.
6. See Article 5(9) of the ESPR.
7. See Article 6 of the ESPR.
8. See Article 7 of the ESPR.
9. European Commission Product Bureau, Preparatory Study on Textile Products.
10. Large enterprises are those which employ 250 or more persons and which have an annual turnover exceeding EUR50 million, and/or an annual balance sheet total exceeding EUR43 million.
11. Medium-sized enterprises are those which (i) employ 50 or more persons, but fewer than 250 persons, (ii) have an annual turnover exceeding EUR10 million, but not exceeding EUR50 million, and/or (iii) have an annual balance sheet total exceeding EUR10 million but not exceeding EUR43 million.
12. See Article 25 (5) of the ESPR; and the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/296.
13. This includes businesses that directly discard unsold consumer products and businesses that have unsold consumer products discarded on their behalf. See Article 24 (1) of the ESPR.
14. See Article 24 (3) of the ESPR; and the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2.
15. See Article 2 (28) of the ESPR.
16. See Articles 9 to 12 of the ESPR.
17. See Annex III of the ESPR.
18. See Articles 27, 28, 29 and 30 of the ESPR.
19. See Articles 31, 33 and 35 of the ESPR.
20. See Article 74 (1) of the ESPR.
21. See Article 74 (3) of the ESPR.
22. See Article 74 (2) of the ESPR.
23. See Article 66 (1) of the ESPR.
24. See Article 67 (2) of the ESPR.
25. See Article 76 of the ESPR.
26. A forum is to be established by the Commission to contribute to preparing ecodesign requirements, working plans, examining the effectiveness of market surveillance mechanisms, assessing self-regulation measures, and assessing the prohibition of the destruction of unsold consumer products.
