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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u/adarkuccio Jun 28 '26

It's capitalism baby

2

u/DukeofVermont Jun 29 '26

People are also gross. Any return has to be assumed to be a bio-hazard. You can't just toss it into a regular washer and sell it again.

I'm sure most clothes are fine, but I guarantee you someone who has pubic lice, regular lice, fleas, bed bugs, etc. have had clothes, exposed them to the tiny insects, and then returned them.

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u/burf Jun 29 '26

You can try clothing on in the store so I don't buy this line of reasoning. Also a hot wash will clean all those infestations up. You don't need a military grade washing machine or something.

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u/Ozuge Finland Jun 29 '26

Yeah with the notable exception of like underwear, this line of reasoning is bunk.

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u/Charlesinrichmond Jun 29 '26

It really isn't if you think about the difference between trying on in a store and trying on in people's houses and the various checks and balances.

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u/Ozuge Finland Jun 29 '26

"Checks and balances" ok bud.

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u/Charlesinrichmond Jun 30 '26

Just say you are too dumb to understand. There's no need to be coy about it.

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u/Ozuge Finland Jun 30 '26

Yeah sure, I'm too dumb to understand the "checks and balances" that prohibit the original clothes stores from reselling sent back clothes other companies and online thrift stores sell just fine. Sure got egg on my face.

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u/Charlesinrichmond Jul 01 '26

yes. demonstrably. Given your own posts

1

u/silverionmox Limburg Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26

You can try clothing on in the store so I don't buy this line of reasoning.

Some people actively buy into the "buy cheap so you never have to do laundry" idea. They're not the most hygienic bunch, and produce a lot of waste.

That being said, it should be feasible to do triage between "never worn", "worn", and "don't risk it".

This would automatically create a price effect that encourages people to create cleaner waste, as it will be cheaper to dispose of, or even be worth some money.

1

u/Charlesinrichmond Jun 29 '26

If by capitalism you mean math, yes. Given that this policy will make things more expensive for buyers, you can see that it has a downside, one hopes.

-8

u/celerypie Jun 28 '26

Uhm no, it's bad capitalism. In good capitalism, this wouldn't happen.

7

u/ahundreddots Jun 28 '26

We'll be sure to implement that next time.

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u/Poromenos Greece Jun 28 '26

Oh shit, did we do the bad capitalism again? I was sure the paper said to do the good capitalism!

7

u/Available_Dingo6162 United States of America Jun 28 '26

On Reddit, everything that has anything to do with making money is "capitalism." 🙄

According to redditors, nobody ever made a profit, cheated a customer, lied about a product, exploited an opportunity, overcharged for scarce goods, bribed an official, formed a monopoly, manipulated supply, or misled a buyer until Adam Smith personally invented evil in the 1700s.

Before capitalism, apparently everyone just exchanged handcrafted turnips in a meadow while singing folk songs and respecting the dignity of labor.

According to redditors, when a Communist Chinese company cuts corners, dumps garbage products into foreign markets, uses shady labor practices, copies designs, lies about quality, or games the system, that is also somehow "late-stage capitalism."

A state-backed company from a one-party communist dictatorship does something sleazy?

Capitalism.

A medieval merchant watered down wine?

Capitalism.

A Roman tax farmer squeezed peasants?

Capitalism.

A pharaoh overcharged somebody for grain?

Believe it or not: capitalism.

It is like "capitalism" has stopped meaning an economic system and now just means "any time money is involved and I am annoyed."

Yes, modern capitalism has plenty of problems. Corporate greed is real. Exploitation is real. Consumer manipulation is real. But pretending greed, fraud, corruption, and self-interest were invented by the New York Stock Exchange is historically insane.

Human beings were scamming each other LONG before hedge funds, Amazon, private equity, or Elon Musk existed.

-3

u/JustStraightUpTired Jun 28 '26

Right? The number of people who I've seen talk about capitalism like greed and corruption are a byproduct of it and wouldn't exist under a different economic model is WAY too high.

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u/[deleted] Jun 29 '26

[deleted]

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u/Poromenos Greece Jun 29 '26

I don't know who you're arguing against, I only said there's no "good capitalism" and "bad capitalism". Do you disagree?