The EU's ban on destroying unsold clothing is shifting the apparel industry's focus from "production" to "post-sale." Under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), starting July 19, 2026, large EU companies will be prohibited from destroying unsold clothing, apparel accessories, and footwear, with exemptions in certain cases; medium-sized enterprises will be subject to the same requirement starting in 2030. The European Commission estimates that 4% to 9% of textile products placed on the European market are destroyed before ever being worn, equivalent to 264,000 to 594,000 tonnes per year.

This rule is transmitting quickly. For Bangladesh, the EU market was already tightening and exports are declining, while traceability is shifting from a "sustainability bonus" to an "operational basic requirement." The Digital Product Passport (DPP) system is being used to connect key product data across every stage from fiber, yarn, and fabric to finished garments.

The post-sale stage is also under pressure. Data from the European Environment Agency shows that one in five items of clothing bought online in Europe is returned, and 22% to 43% of those returns are ultimately destroyed, averaging about one-third. The new regulatory framework explicitly places resale, reuse, repair, and recycling ahead of disposal. For Bangladeshi manufacturers, the radius of responsibility has thus expanded greatly beyond "shipment completed."

Bangladesh has already taken some action. On August 17, the country signed a memorandum of understanding with the Netherlands to strengthen cooperation in the circular economy, covering resource efficiency, waste reduction, recycling, and sustainable production in the textile value chain.

But the real bottleneck is the availability of textile waste. Bangladesh's import framework restricts waste imports and imposes controls on imports of old clothes or second-hand clothing. The Import Policy Order 2021-24 lists "all kinds of waste" as prohibited imports unless otherwise provided, and imports of old clothes are separately governed by government notifications. This leaves recycling companies that need a stable supply of post-consumer textile feedstock caught in a policy dilemma.

The tightness or looseness of this restriction is crucial, because Bangladesh itself has considerable potential: it generates about 600,000 tonnes of textile waste each year, mainly offcuts produced in garment manufacturing, known as "jhut." A United Nations assessment sees this waste stream as a key driver of import substitution and product diversification. If effectively collected, sorted, and processed, Bangladesh could keep material value locally instead of downgrading waste into low-value products.

EU circular rules pose a difficult problem for Bangladesh, but they could also become a competitive asset. By linking a DPP-compliant traceability system with domestic jhut collection, textile-to-textile recycling, and simplified customs procedures, compliance costs could be turned into an industrial advantage. The question is whether Bangladesh can turn waste and traceability capabilities into strategic assets before these requirements become hard market-access thresholds.

Source: EU circularity rules put Bangladesh apparel supply chains to the test · Originally published on 2026-09-09