EU bans destruction of unsold fashion, but supply chains resist
Source: designboom
The EU's ban on destroying unsold luxury goods addresses a visible symptom—estimated at billions in wasted inventory annually—but doesn't solve the deeper incentive structure that makes overproduction profitable. Luxury brands built their margins on artificial scarcity and seasonal disposal. Enforcement depends entirely on supply chain transparency that these companies have historically resisted. The question is whether regulatory pressure forces genuine demand forecasting reforms or simply displaces destruction to non-EU manufacturers and warehouses.