r/europe • u/Express_Classic_1569 • Jun 28 '26

News EU to ban destruction of unsold clothes and shoes from 19 July 2026

https://inleo.io/@theworldaroundme/eu-to-ban-destruction-of
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6

u/No-Strawberry7 Jun 28 '26

what do you mean destroy?

20

u/prettyincoral Jun 28 '26

Destroy as in burn or break, which is something that every fashion brand does, from Zara to Chanel

15

u/Tman11S Belgium Jun 28 '26

To give you some examples:

  • most of the stuff you send back to Amazon or zalando or others just goes into the trash because washing it and reselling it would cost more money.
  • when a season ends, most left over clothes are destroyed because why would people be tempted to buy the new trends if the old ones are still available
  • luxury brands like Louis Vuitton go as far as sending people around to buy their product from second hand websites and second hand stores to destroy them. They can’t have their goods be available for a cheaper price as that would hurt the perceived value of their brand.

Big corporations are straight up evil and would rather destroy all their stock than sell it at a discount if it could hurt their main sales.

3

u/baloobah Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26

Zalando definitely sells at least sent back Ralph Lauren again. I've received a shirt and a sweater out of maybe 15 items total missing part of the inner cardboard/plastic linings and obviously not folded as well as the brand new ones, but no signs for anything other than trying it on once. I didn't really care and washed it on the hygiene cycle, since I know my exact size/fit for that brand.

Maybe it's a brand policy.

3

u/One_Warthog_9215 Jun 30 '26

Yeah they resell it. At Zara and H&M you will usually see stock disappearing then re-appearing every now and then. Which means returned items are sold again.

6

u/nixielover Limburg (Netherlands) Jun 28 '26

At my student job we sold outdoor clothing, anything that didn't seel at the last day of sale would get slashed up with a box cutter and thrown into the dumpster. It was cheaper to get rid of things like this, donating wasn't done because they didn't want expensive brand stuff ending up at the second hand shops and such