The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR — EU 2024/1781) is the framework regulation that creates the Digital Product Passport and is now fully in force across the EU. The European Commission adopted its first ESPR Working Plan in April 2025, prioritizing textiles, iron and steel, and furniture for the first delegated acts. The ban on destroying unsold textiles and footwear applies to large companies starting July 19, 2026 — and DPP obligations for the first priority sectors follow in 2027–2028. If you’re a brand or manufacturer placing physical products on the EU market, ESPR will affect your product data, supplier traceability, and end-of-life strategy. Deply is the Digital Product Passport platform built for ESPR from day one — with GS1 Digital Link compatibility, pre-built data models aligned to the first delegated acts, and supplier collaboration workflows designed for SMEs without heavy ERP integration.
What is this regulation?
ESPR is the EU’s new framework for making products more durable, repairable, resource-efficient, and easier to recycle. It replaces the previous Ecodesign Directive and extends its scope beyond energy-related products to nearly all physical goods. Its most transformative provision is the Digital Product Passport (DPP) — a machine-readable data carrier (usually a QR code) that shares sustainability, origin, and repair data with consumers, regulators, and supply chain partners. Specific requirements are set through delegated acts per product category, adopted incrementally by the European Commission.
Who must comply?
Every manufacturer, importer, and distributor placing products on the EU market falls within ESPR’s reach, regardless of company size. Exceptions: food, feed, medicinal products, and living organisms. Priority sectors with first delegated acts in 2026–2027: textiles and apparel, iron and steel, aluminum, furniture, tires, chemicals, detergents, paints. SMEs under 250 employees receive support measures, and microenterprises are exempt from the unsold-goods destruction ban until 2030.
How this impacts your business
If your products fall under a future ESPR delegated act, you will need to meet product-group-specific rules — ranging from minimum durability standards and repairability scores to mandatory DPP data. The textile destruction ban applicable July 2026 is a concrete, imminent compliance event for large fashion and home textile businesses. Italian textile districts (Prato, Biella), furniture makers (Brianza), and steel producers face an 18–24 month runway to build supplier data pipelines, material traceability, and DPP infrastructure before obligations kick in. ESPR data also feeds your CSRD reporting and EUDR due diligence — making a unified DPP platform a smart investment across multiple compliance stacks.
How Deply helps
Deply gives brands and manufacturers a single platform to collect supplier data, generate compliant Digital Product Passports, and manage product lifecycles without retrofitting expensive ERP systems. Our data models are pre-aligned with the first ESPR delegated acts. We handle the hard part — getting Tier 1, 2, and 3 suppliers to submit accurate product data — through collaborative workflows, not email chains. GS1 Digital Link native support ensures your DPPs interoperate with EPREL, CPR, and upcoming sector-specific systems.
Frequently asked questions
When exactly will my textile brand need a DPP under ESPR?
Does ESPR apply to B2B components or only finished products?
How does ESPR interact with EPREL if my product has an energy label?
Official sources
- EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 — Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) (ESPR)
- European Commission: ESPR Working Plan 2025–2030
This page provides general information and does not constitute legal advice. Regulatory obligations depend on sector, product category, and jurisdiction.
Last updated: April 2026
