Fashion companies in 27 member states of the European Union (EU) will no longer be allowed to destroy unsold clothes and shoes.

The ban, approved in 2024 under the EU's 'Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation', came into effect on Sunday. Experts say the policy, which is aimed at mitigating the environmental crisis, will also benefit consumers. European companies previously destroyed millions of tons of damaged, old and online fashion items.

Large companies with more than 250 employees and an annual turnover of more than 50 million euros are now prohibited from destroying clothes, shoes and other fashion items. Companies will not be allowed to burn, destroy or send them to landfill except in certain circumstances.

Under the rule, companies will now have to sell, donate or manage such items through discount, alternative markets or charities. Materials will only be destroyed if they are harmful to health, unsafe, irreparable or rejected by a charity.

Similarly, it has been made mandatory for companies to publish an annual report on the items they throw away and to keep records of them for five years. This rule will also apply to medium-sized companies after 2030.

The waste problem in the fashion industry is very big. According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), about 4 to 9 percent of unsold textile products are destroyed in Europe alone every year.

Most of the materials are destroyed before they are used. According to the agency, this generates an estimated 264,000 to 594,000 tons of waste annually.

The problem is exacerbated by the rapid increase in online shopping and the trend of returning products. One in five fashion items ordered online across the EU are returned and destroyed by companies instead of being sold or reused. Similarly, some luxury items that are left in online stores after a long period of not being sold are destroyed instead of being discounted.

All of this means that hundreds of thousands of tonnes of ready-to-wear clothing, the fabrics used to make them, and shoes are destroyed every year. The burning of millions of garments is hampering efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which this new ban aims to reduce.

EU member states are taking policies to focus on raw materials, water, energy and waste from transport and to encourage reuse and recycling.

The ban has received mixed reactions. The German Retail Federation (HDE) said consumers could benefit from the huge discounts on clothing through outlets, clearance markets and second-hand channels. However, Stefan Zenth, managing director of the HDE, warned that the rule change would be challenging for many retailers. He said that not all unsold items could be easily resold or donated due to damaged packaging, high logistics costs, lack of demand or low prices for the products. Similarly, companies have also said that storing or repairing these items would increase costs. Luxury brands have long argued that it is cheaper to destroy items than to store, repair or discount them. Such companies produce very few items. By destroying items that have not been sold for a certain period of time, they show that their brands have a limited range.

which makes luxury customers eager to buy when their new brands are launched . This week, Hong Kong's High Court ruled that French luxury goods brand Chanel routinely destroyed thousands of unsold products .  Some experts say that sending unsold goods to outlets, charities or the secondary market risks lowering prices or increasing unauthorized sales . In addition, repairing, storing and retrieving materials can increase companies' costs . Luca Solka, a fashion analyst at German research firm Bernstein, says such rules will make fashion brands more accountable .

'The new rules will force companies to pay more attention to planning and managing inventory . It is natural for clothing brands, in particular, to have some inventory left over at the end of the season . "I think companies will make more efforts to maintain brand quality, bring special offers and sell, donate or manage their remaining inventory well, while maintaining brand quality," he said.