Article 24 of Regulation 2024/1781 of 13 June 2024, known as ESPR, introduced the obligation for manufacturers and distributors of consumer goods to report their discarded unsold goods.
The Commission has just confirmed, in the latest version of the draft implementing regulation to be published, that the first declaration is expected for the year 2025, to be published during 2026.
As the reporting format proposed in the draft is not yet mandatory, the declaration for 2025 will have to be made in a free format. However, it must identify the main categories of products destined for waste treatment, the reasons for this choice, the treatment channels selected, the number of units concerned and the preventive measures taken. All unsold consumer products that are discarded must be declared, not just those listed in Annex II of the draft implementing regulation.
The declaration must be made on the operator’s website and remain accessible there for five years.
In subsequent years, and at the latest from 2027 onwards, products must be identified by HS customs code (the first four digits for products listed in Annex II of the draft implementing regulation and the first two digits for other products) and declared in the format set out in Annex I of the draft implementing regulation, which is due to be published in the coming days.
