Can I still destroy showroom models and returns?

What you concretely have to do

Showroom models at the end of a season, returns that can no longer be sold as new, samples left over after a collection change: in the furniture industry, destruction or disposal to the container is still routine for many businesses. The ESPR changes that premise. Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ESPR) contains in articles 23 to 26 a framework that subjects destruction of unsold consumer goods to rules, and that framework also applies to showroom models and returns once they are disposed of as unsold products.

What is expected of you

Destruction may be subject to a prohibition or to transparency obligations

Article 23 of the ESPR provides for the possibility of prohibiting destruction of unsold consumer goods, and article 24 provides for the possibility of requiring businesses to report on the quantities they destroy and the reason for doing so. For a furniture maker or importer with 10 to 100 employees, this means that a showroom model disposed of at the end of the year is no longer automatically an internal, invisible decision. There may come a moment when that disposal must be reported, or when it is simply no longer permitted.

The distinction between "unsold" and "disposed of" is decisive

Articles 23 to 26 concern unsold consumer goods, not products that a consumer has used and returns at the end of their life. A showroom model that was never delivered to a customer falls into the first category. A return is trickier: a product that comes back because the customer was dissatisfied is often unused and legally still "unsold" in the sense of these provisions, whereas a product that was used and is disposed of falls more into the realm of waste regulations. That distinction is relevant to the question of which framework applies; those who wish to know what specifically applies to products at the end of their life should read that on the page about what the waste regulations mean for disposed-of furniture.

The scope is determined per product group

Article 25 of the ESPR provides the basis for establishing, per product group, via delegated acts, further rules on which businesses fall under the prohibition or reporting obligation and what exceptions exist (for example for smaller businesses). For furniture it has not yet been determined how that will look exactly. This means that a business cannot currently say with certainty whether, and if so on what timeline, this will apply to its own showroom models — but the direction of the regulation is that unmotivated destruction of unsold products will come under supervision.

Reporting obligations can be independent of a prohibition

Even without a prohibition, a business may face an obligation to keep track of and report how many unsold products are destroyed; article 24 of the ESPR provides for this. For a business of this size, this concretely means that there may come a moment when it must keep track of how many showroom models, returns and surplus items are disposed of, and why — something that is not systematically recorded in most showrooms today.

Where things go wrong in practice

A few situations that cause confusion in the furniture industry:

• The showroom model that "happened to be damaged". A showroom model that has damage after a season is often disposed of without thinking because it no longer seems saleable. Under a future framework, the question may arise whether that is destruction of an unsold product that must be reported, or simply waste processing of a damaged piece.
• The return stream that nobody counts. Returns often follow a different logistical path than new inventory and are rarely separately registered at the time of disposal. If a reporting obligation comes, then precisely the data needed will be missing.
• Samples and samples at a collection change. With each new fabric collection, a stack of old samples disappears. This often happens on a large scale and undocumented, while in essence it is precisely the type of "unsold consumer goods" that the ESPR is aimed at.
• The assumption that small businesses are automatically excluded. It is often assumed that an exemption for smaller businesses will also apply to one's own business, while this still needs to be determined per product group and is therefore not established.
• Destruction as a balancing item in the event of insolvency of a dealer or showroom. When a showroom closes and inventory needs to be cleared quickly, destruction is often seen as the simplest route, without considering whether this would fall under a reporting or prohibition regime.

What you can put in order now

Even while the precise rules for furniture are not yet established, it is useful to put a number of things in order now:

• An overview of how many showroom models, returns and samples per year are disposed of, and in what manner (destroyed, donated, sold as second choice, recycled).
• A documented reason for each disposal decision: damaged, outdated, return without defect description, end of collection.
• Agreements with showrooms and dealers about who decides on the disposal of showroom models, and on what basis.
• A protocol for handling returns: when a product goes back on sale, when it is sold as second choice, and when it is disposed of.

This type of registration is also useful beyond this specific obligation: it aligns with the way of working that is necessary for the broader product passport, and it provides guidance on the question what a supervisor asks during an inspection on furniture. Anyone wondering how this relates to inventory already in the warehouse at the time the rules take effect will find that on the page about inventory already there when the rules take effect; for the question of how this precisely differs from destruction of ordinary unsold inventory, there is the page about destroying unsold furniture inventory.