How the ESPR regulation works

The purpose of ESPR is to make products more sustainable throughout their entire life cycle. The regulation is a central part of the European Green Deal and the Circular Economy Action Plan.

Its objectives are to reduce the environmental and climate impact of products, improve resource efficiency, and stimulate the development of a circular economy where products are used for longer, repaired, reused, and recycled to a greater extent.

The most important principle to understand is that ESPR itself does not contain detailed technical requirements for all products. Instead, it functions as a framework that empowers the European Commission to introduce product-specific requirements through so-called delegated acts.

The regulation therefore defines:

The specific requirements will be developed gradually for individual product groups through delegated acts. As a result, different industries will be affected at different times. ESPR covers nearly all physical products (with certain exceptions) sold within the EU. For the construction sector, this means that many construction products will be subject to future product requirements.

This is particularly relevant because the construction and real estate sectors account for a significant share of Europe’s resource consumption and climate impact. ESPR applies to all economic operators placing products on the EU market, including manufacturers, importers, distributors, retailers, and online marketplaces.

Companies outside the EU will also be affected if their products are sold on the European market. Consequently, the regulation is not solely a European issue but will have global implications, as supply chains must adapt to the new requirements.

The most widely discussed aspect of ESPR is the introduction of the Digital Product Passport (DPP). A Digital Product Passport is a structured collection of information that accompanies a product throughout its entire life cycle. The passport will contain relevant product information and will be made digitally accessible through, for example, a QR code or another electronic identifier.

Digital Product Passports are intended to make relevant product information accessible to users. The idea is that a single source of information should support a wide range of use cases throughout the product’s lifetime. Read more about Digital Product Passport project.

To determine which product groups should be regulated first, the European Commission develops work plans. The first ESPR work plan was published in 2025 and identifies the product groups that will be prioritised in the coming years.This work is carried out in collaboration with researchers, authorities, industry organisations, and other stakeholders through the Ecodesign Forum.

When selecting product groups, factors such as environmental impact, improvement potential, market size, cost-effectiveness, and contribution to the EU’s climate objectives are evaluated. Once priorities have been established, technical studies are conducted before specific product requirements are developed.

Another important development concerns unsold products. ESPR includes provisions that restrict or prohibit the destruction of certain unsold consumer goods.The purpose is to reduce resource waste and encourage reuse, remanufacturing, and donation.

Initially, the rules focus primarily on textiles and footwear, but the principle may become relevant for other product groups in the future.

Like other EU regulations, ESPR requires Member States to carry out market surveillance. National authorities will be responsible for ensuring that products placed on the market comply with the requirements applicable to their respective product groups. If a product fails to meet these requirements, authorities may require corrective measures, prohibit sales, or order products to be withdrawn from the market.

Digital Product Passports are expected to play an important role in enforcement activities by making information more accessible and standardised.

ESPR can serve as a common European framework that connects these information flows, makes them machine-readable, and makes them accessible through Digital Product Passports.

For companies, this presents both challenges and opportunities. The challenge lies in collecting, quality-assuring, and updating large volumes of product data. The opportunity is that the same data can be used across multiple regulatory requirements and facilitate more efficient information exchange throughout the entire value chain.

To view information about a specific product, search for it in our open search engine, Search, open the product record, and see its data and which requirements it fulfils.