Greenwashing Enforcement Has Arrived: What The EU's New Fast Fashion Rules Signal For All Consumer-Facing Businesses

Introduction

Fast fashion is coming under sustained regulatory pressure across Europe, but the rules driving that pressure are not confined to clothing. They are the latest of an EU-wide push towards mandatory disposal reporting, restrictions on destroying unsold goods, and stricter policing of environmental marketing claims. These trends are increasingly relevant beyond the fashion sector and are ones that consumer-facing businesses across industries are likely to face in the coming years. From 19 July 2026, the EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (“ESPR”) has banned the destruction of unsold apparel and footwear. Ireland, as an EU member state and a market in which many of the affected retailers operate, is directly implicated. France has separately introduced its own national Ultra-Fast Fashion Act, which is summarised below purely for comparative context. Finally, and on a distinct but related consumer protection track, new customs arrangements now apply to packages arriving in Ireland from outside the EU, adding a further compliance and cost dimension for online retailers and shoppers alike. This article considers each of these developments and their practical implications for businesses operating in Ireland, and for any consumer-facing business assessing how the same EU-wide reporting, disposal, and greenwashing rules are likely to impact on their own sector.

The EU’s ban on destroying unsold textiles and footwear

The centrepiece of the EU reform is the ESPR ban on the destruction of unsold textiles and footwear, which took effect on 19 July 2026. Critically, recycling counts as destruction for the purposes of the ban, meaning that affected businesses cannot treat recycling as a compliant alternative to landfill or incineration and instead will need to pursue donation, resale and reuse strategies now.

The ban does not apply uniformly across all businesses. Medium sized enterprises have a transitional period and do not need to comply until 19 July 2030, while small and micro enterprises are generally exempt from the destruction ban altogether. Article 25 of the ESPR is the relevant carve out, and it also builds in limited derogations from the ban more generally, including for safety risks, intellectual property infringement, and irreparable damage to goods. Any destruction relying on these derogations must be documented and the records retained for 10 years.

Separate from the destruction ban, the ESPR imposes a public reporting obligation: all affected businesses must now publicly report on the volume of unsold products they dispose of, the reasons for disposal, and the methods used, starting with financial year 2025 (meaning, for calendar year companies, disclosures published in 2026). This reporting obligation should not be treated as a compliance afterthought; the reputational exposure created by these public disclosures is likely to be significant for retailers whose disposal practices do not stand up to scrutiny.

The ESPR also addresses labelling and marketing. Article 16(1)(c) provides for ESPR labelling requirements that are directly relevant to greenwashing risk, including in the context of distance selling. These sit alongside the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (EU) 2024/825, which targets misleading environmental claims and which has now been transposed into Irish law by the European Union (Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition) Regulations 2026 (SI No. 124 of 2026), amending the Consumer Protection Act 2007 and the Consumer Rights Act 2022. This comes into operation on 27 September 2026. Both frameworks are relevant to how fashion retailers describe the sustainability credentials of their products and to any historic non-compliance action taken by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (“CCPC”) in this area.

Taken as a whole, the ESPR is considerably more prescriptive and places a heavier direct burden on economic operators, such as manufacturers, distributors and service providers, than the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (EU) 2022/2464, which is broader in scope but less operationally specific. Member states with larger domestic manufacturing and distribution bases are likely to feel the adjustment most acutely, as their industry will need to adapt existing waste and disposal practices quickly to meet the new EU wide standard.

A comparative study: France’s ultra-fast fashion act

This section is included for general informational and comparative purposes only, based on published reporting on the French legislation. It is not, and is not intended to be, advice on French law. Businesses seeking advice on the application of French law should consult French qualified counsel.

According to published reports, France’s Ultra-Fast Fashion Act was adopted on 8 July 2026 and is directed at high volume, low durability fashion producers, principally large non-European online platforms. The measures introduced in France include increased Extended Producer Responsibility (“EPR”) fees for ultra-fast fashion producers, which are said to rise annually to between €2.00 and €20.00 per product by 2030 and to be capped at 50% of the product price, together with a full advertising ban reported to take effect from 1 January 2027 that would extend to influencer marketing and prohibit use of the word “free” in relation to these products. The same reports indicate that EU based retailers currently fall outside the scope of the French regime.

The French development is noted here as an example of a wider European trend of national and EU level regulatory tightening in the fast fashion sector, which businesses operating across multiple EU jurisdictions may wish to monitor with the benefit of local advice in each relevant jurisdiction.

Impact of ESPR on Ireland and Irish law

For retailers with an Irish store presence that are part of a wider EU group, the ESPR destruction ban raises practical questions that go beyond simple compliance box ticking. A retailer will need to consider not only how unsold stock is dealt with in Ireland, but also whether old stock is being transported to another jurisdiction where destruction, recycling or disposal practices may attract separate scrutiny under the same EU wide rules.

The ESPR’s EPR and waste management obligations should also be read alongside Ireland’s existing implementation of the Waste Framework Directive, given effect through S.I. No. 323/2020, European Union (Waste Directive) Regulations 2020. From a reporting perspective, the ESPR represents a significant amendment to that existing framework, and businesses operating in Ireland will need to map their current waste reporting practices against the additional, more granular disclosure obligations the ESPR introduces.

There is also a broader shift in regulatory focus worth noting. In practice, the ESPR is likely to move Irish compliance activity away from day-to-day procedural adaptation and towards more structured company level audits and ongoing monitoring of waste management practices, reflecting the EU’s emphasis on documented, auditable compliance rather than ad hoc measures.

On the consumer facing side, businesses selling in Ireland should also monitor how the CCPC approaches greenwashing and “free” claims in advertising, including through its compliance notices, as the practical enforcement gap between the ESPR labelling requirements, the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive, and existing Irish consumer protection law becomes clearer, particularly given that the CCPC can also apply to the courts for prohibition orders and, for widespread infringements, impose fines of up to 4% of turnover or €2 million. This has a direct bearing on the unsold stock issue at the centre of the ESPR reforms discussed above; retailers pursuing donation, resale or reuse of unsold stock in place of destruction should check that any sustainability or durability claims attached to that stock, whether on packaging, point-of-sale material or online listings, would themselves now withstand scrutiny under the transposed Regulations, since a compliant disposal route does not cure a non-compliant label. Where existing stock carries claims that predate the new rules, the practical position is not a blanket write-off. National authorities are expected to take a phased, compliance-oriented approach for products already in the distribution chain where a trader can show genuine efforts to comply, though online claims are likely to face closer scrutiny. Retailers should treat this as a prompt to audit labelling and marketing across both new and existing stock now, given the enforcement consequences set out above.

New customs charges on packages from outside the EU

On a related but distinct track, new customs arrangements now apply to online orders arriving in Ireland from outside the EU. These changes form part of a broader EU effort to reform the treatment of low value e-commerce packages ahead of the EU customs data hub, expected in 2028, and reflect proposals from the EU Council that include an EU wide customs handling fee. An Post has introduced its own charge on affected packages, adding a further layer of cost that Irish consumers and businesses need to factor in when ordering from outside the EU.

While the detail of these customs measures is primarily a matter of consumer and commercial awareness rather than a substantive change to Irish law, retailers and consumers alike should note that the changes are part of the EU’s wider push to align customs enforcement with its environmental and sustainability goals, including by discouraging high volume, low value imports of the kind targeted by the ESPR.

Summary

The EU reforms considered in this insight are part of a coordinated push to change how the fashion industry designs, produces, disposes of and advertises its products. The ESPR’s ban on the destruction of unsold textiles and footwear, in force since 19 July 2026, and its accompanying reporting and labelling obligations, will require affected retailers, distributors and manufacturers to overhaul existing stock disposal and disclosure practices, with medium enterprises granted a transitional period to 19 July 2030 and small and micro enterprises generally exempt.

In Ireland, the practical effect is likely to be felt through enhanced company level auditing and monitoring obligations under the existing Waste Framework Directive regime, together with closer scrutiny of environmental marketing claims by the CCPC. Separately, the new customs charges on packages arriving from outside the EU, including the An Post charge, add a further cost and compliance consideration for cross-border online retail.

Key takeaways

1. The regulatory pattern here, mandatory disposal reporting, restrictions on destroying unsold goods, and CCPC enforcement of environmental marketing claims, is not fashion-specific, it reflects a wider EU direction that other consumer-facing sectors are likely to encounter in some form.

2. From 19 July 2026, the ESPR bans the destruction of unsold textiles and footwear across the EU, with recycling treated as destruction; medium enterprises have until 19 July 2030 to comply and small and micro enterprises are generally exempt.

3. Irish businesses should assess their waste reporting obligations under S.I. No. 323/2020 against the ESPR’s more prescriptive disclosure requirements, and monitor CCPC enforcement of greenwashing and “free” advertising claims.

4. New EU customs arrangements, including the An Post charge on packages from outside the EU, add a further cost dimension for cross-border online retail and reflect a wider EU alignment of customs and sustainability policy.

5. France has separately introduced its own Ultra-Fast Fashion Act; this is noted for comparative awareness only and businesses should seek French law advice from French qualified counsel on its application.

Co-authors: Aoibhin Maher and Matthieu Lezeau