Key definitions
ESPR
Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 on Ecodesign for Sustainable Products (in force 18 July 2024). Framework regulation that replaces the Ecodesign Directive 2009/125/EC and extends ecodesign requirements (durability, repairability, recycled content, information) to nearly all physical goods sold in the EU.
Digital Product Passport (DPP)
A machine-readable data carrier (QR code, RFID tag, data matrix) attached to a product, giving access to its composition, environmental performance, repairability information and regulatory compliance status. Required per product category via ESPR delegated acts.
Delegated act
A Commission regulation specifying which ecodesign requirements and DPP data elements apply to a given product group. It is the trigger that makes ESPR obligations binding for that category. Until a delegated act is published for a category, no category-level ESPR obligations are in force.
Responsible person
The economic operator who bears ESPR compliance obligations: the manufacturer if EU-established, or the authorised representative or importer for products made outside the EU. Responsible persons must ensure the product meets applicable ecodesign requirements and hold the DPP.
Substance of concern
Under ESPR, any substance that negatively affects the reuse, recycling or recovery of a product, or that is hazardous (as defined by REACH, CLP or the Biocidal Products Regulation). Responsible persons must restrict and disclose substances of concern in their products.
Ecodesign requirements
Performance or information requirements that the Commission sets via delegated act for a product group. Categories include: durability, reliability, repairability, recyclability, recycled content, energy and resource efficiency, presence of hazardous substances, and product-specific information (including the DPP data set).
What ESPR changes vs. the old Ecodesign Directive 2009/125/EC
Directive 2009/125/EC applied only to energy-related products: goods that consume energy during use or affect how energy is consumed, such as boilers, televisions or industrial fans. Apparel, furniture, tyres, and most consumer goods fell entirely outside its scope.
ESPR replaces the old directive entirely and extends the ecodesign framework to almost all physical goods. Its scope is intentionally broad: any product with a physical form placed on the EU market, with digital elements or without. The narrow exclusions are listed in Article 2 of the regulation.
Directive 2009/125/EC: repealed
Regulation (EU) 2024/1781: ESPR
Energy-related products only
All physical goods (with narrow Article 2 exceptions)
Performance requirements only
Performance + information + substance-of-concern disclosure
No Digital Product Passport
Digital Product Passport required per category via delegated act
No restriction on destroying unsold goods
Destruction ban for unsold consumer goods (Article 27), with SME derogations
Implementing measures per product group
Delegated acts per product group: same mechanism, broader scope
Source: Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, recitals and Articles 1–2, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1781/oj; Directive 2009/125/EC, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2009/125/oj
Which products are in scope, and which are not
Being in scope of ESPR and being subject to active ecodesign requirements are different questions. All physical goods sold in the EU are in scope. Specific requirements apply only once a delegated act is published for the relevant product group. The Commission identifies priority categories in a 'Union work plan' updated every three years.
In scope: first work-plan priorities
Textiles, apparel and footwear
Furniture
Iron and steel products
Aluminium products
Tyres
Detergents and surfactants
Paints, varnishes and inks
Lubricants
Consumer electronics (alongside sector directives)
Out of scope: Article 2 exclusions
Food and feed
Medicinal products for human use (Directive 2001/83/EC)
Veterinary medicinal products (Regulation EU 2019/6)
Living plants, animals and microorganisms
Products of human origin (blood, organs, tissues)
Cosmetics and chemicals remain primarily under their sector-specific regulations (EC 1223/2009 and REACH EC 1907/2006): ESPR may add a complementary information layer.
Source: Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, Article 2 (scope), Annex II (indicative product group list), https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1781/oj
When ESPR applies vs. sector-specific regulation: decision matrix
ESPR is a framework regulation: it sets the structure and delegates the substance per category. Where a more specific EU regulation already applies to the same product with comparable requirements, that lex specialis prevails. The practical logic for the most common product types:
Product type
Primary regulation
ESPR's role
Textiles / Apparel
ESPR delegated act (in preparation: first-priority category)
Primary framework: will set DPP, fibre labelling, recycled content, durability and repairability rules
Batteries
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 (Battery Regulation)
Battery Regulation is lex specialis and prevails; ESPR supplementary only
Cosmetics
Regulation (EC) 1223/2009
May add DPP / substance-of-concern disclosure layer; core obligations remain in 1223/2009
Chemicals
REACH (EC) 1907/2006 + CLP (EC) 1272/2008
Adds product-level substance-of-concern disclosure on top of REACH
Electronics
RoHS, RED (EU 2014/53), WEEE, Low Voltage Directive
Adds DPP and circular economy requirements absent from sector directives
Furniture
ESPR delegated act (first-priority category)
Primary framework: DPP, material composition, repairability, recycled content
Tyres
ESPR delegated act (first-priority category)
Primary framework: durability, recycled rubber content, DPP
Sources: ESPR Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1781/oj; Battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1542/oj; REACH (EC) 1907/2006, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2006/1907/oj
The Digital Product Passport: what it is, who holds it, and what it contains
The Digital Product Passport (DPP) is one of ESPR's most consequential innovations. It is a data carrier (a QR code, RFID tag or data matrix) physically attached to or embedded in the product, that links to a standardised set of product information stored in a regulated data system.
Consumers
Material composition, care and use instructions, environmental impact, end-of-life disposal guidance.
Repair professionals & recyclers
Disassembly and dismantling information, spare-parts availability, hazardous substance locations.
Market surveillance authorities
Full regulatory compliance record, test results, declaration of conformity, technical documentation.
The DPP does not replace the technical file or declaration of conformity. It makes the information already in those documents visible to the people who need it: at the moment they need it.
Who creates and maintains the DPP?
The responsible person, manufacturer (if EU-established) or importer, creates the DPP before the product is placed on the market and keeps it updated throughout the product's lifecycle. The data must be stored in a Commission-registered system accessible via a unique product identifier. The specific data set for each product group is defined in the corresponding delegated act.
Source: Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, Articles 9–11, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1781/oj
The destruction ban: what it actually says about unsold goods
Article 27 of ESPR prohibits economic operators from destroying unsold consumer goods covered by a delegated act. Rather than destroying those goods, the operator must re-use, repair, remanufacture, recycle or otherwise recover them. The prohibition entered the EU legal order on 18 July 2024, but its practical effect depends on each category's delegated act being published.
Covered
Unsold consumer goods in product categories covered by a delegated act. For textiles, a first-priority category, the Commission has signalled that the destruction ban is a priority commitment.
Exceptions
Micro-enterprises (fewer than 10 employees, annual turnover ≤ €2M); goods that pose a safety risk to users; goods legally required to be destroyed (e.g., counterfeits).
Source: Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, Article 27, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1781/oj
Penalties: what the regulation says
ESPR does not set a single EU-wide fine amount. Article 71 requires each member state to lay down the rules on penalties for infringements and to take all measures necessary to ensure they are applied. Those rules must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
Each member state will transpose ESPR enforcement into national law alongside, or as an extension of, its existing product safety and market surveillance legislation. Brands must check the enforcement rules country by country, in the same way penalties under the GPSR (Regulation EU 2023/988) or REACH are verified market by market.
Source: Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, Article 71, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1781/oj; GPSR Regulation (EU) 2023/988, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/988/oj
What to do now, before the delegated acts are published
1. Map the portfolio against first work-plan categories
If products fall in textiles, furniture, iron and steel, aluminium, tyres, detergents, paints or lubricants, the Commission's working groups are already drafting the delegated acts that will make ESPR requirements binding for those categories. Brands in these sectors should track the preparatory consultation processes and anticipate what data the DPP will require.
2. Audit the product data infrastructure
The DPP will require structured, SKU-level data: material composition by weight percentage, country of origin for key manufacturing steps, repair and disassembly instructions, and regulatory compliance attestations. Most brands do not have this data structured today. Building the infrastructure before the delegated act lands is significantly less costly than retrofitting after publication.
3. Model end-of-life and overstock flows in anticipation of the destruction ban
Even for categories without a delegated act yet, the destruction ban signals an irreversible shift in how end-of-season and end-of-life inventory must be managed. Brands in fashion, consumer electronics and home goods should begin modelling now: what is resold, what is repaired, what is donated, what is recycled, and at what cost. The delegated acts will formalise these flows, not create them from scratch.
Official sources cited in this article
Regulation (EU) 2024/1781: Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), OJ L 2024/1781, 28.6.2024
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1781/ojDirective 2009/125/EC: Ecodesign Directive (repealed by ESPR)
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2009/125/ojRegulation (EU) 2023/1542: Batteries and Waste Batteries Regulation
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1542/ojRegulation (EC) 1907/2006: REACH
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2006/1907/ojRegulation (EC) 1223/2009: Cosmetics Regulation
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2009/1223/ojRegulation (EU) 2023/988: General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR)
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/988/ojSources & references
- Regulation (EU) 2023/988: General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR)
- Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006: REACH
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1781: Ecodesign for Sustainable Products (ESPR)
