Eu's sustainability push leaves fashion industry struggling to catch up

The European Union's ambitious push for sustainability in the Fashion industry is forcing brands to scramble for compliance, but the lack of physical infrastructure to support digital product passports and extended producer responsibility is threatening the very efficacy of these regulations.

Digital product passports and epr: a perfect storm for the fashion industry

Digital product passports (DPPs) and extended producer responsibility (EPR) are two key sustainability measures the EU is implementing to tackle the environmental impact of the Fashion industry. DPPs require brands to collect and disclose granular data on product composition, supply chains, and environmental impact, while EPR shifts the financial and operational responsibility for end-of-life products back to the brand. Both measures will apply to any brand, regardless of headquarters, selling in the EU market.

However, as the deadlines for compliance loom, the Fashion industry is struggling to prepare. A simplified DPP covering mandatory product information and basic lifecycle data is targeted for late 2027, with EPR becoming mandatory at scale across the EU by April 2028. The rapid succession of these deadlines confronts brands with a harsh reality: the infrastructure needed to meet them, from machine-readable supplier data to domestic sorting and recycling facilities, does not yet exist at the scale demanded.