May I still destroy unsold steel inventory?
Destruction of steel inventory is not yet prohibited
For unsold steel and iron semi-finished products, there is currently no prohibition on destruction under the ESPR. Articles 23 to 26 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ESPR) concern the prevention of destruction of unsold consumer goods. Steel and iron semi-finished products that are supplied via steel trading to metal processors and construction companies are typically not consumer goods but industrial input for further processing. Whether and how these rules will apply in the future to specific product groups outside consumer goods depends on future delegated acts that are established per product group. For steel, such an act does not yet exist.
Consumer goods versus industrial semi-finished products
The ESPR distinguishes between products sold directly to consumers and products processed further in the supply chain as raw materials or semi-finished products. Articles 23 to 26 focus on the first category: goods that a market participant has failed to sell to the end user and that are subsequently discarded or destroyed instead of being reused, donated or recycled. A batch of flat steel, profiles or coils that remains with a steel trader because a customer withdraws is in practice not a consumer good within the meaning of these provisions — it is a semi-finished product that undergoes a further processing step at a metal or construction company. This distinction is at the heart of the delimitation: the rules are written for retail and e-commerce in consumer products (such as clothing, electronics, furniture), not for B2B inventories in the metal supply chain.
This does not mean that the metal sector categorically falls outside any future scope of these provisions. The ESPR is a framework regulation: the specific product groups to which requirements will apply — including any rules on unsold inventory — are filled in per product group via delegated acts. As long as such an act for iron and steel has not been published, there is simply no rule yet that restricts the destruction of unsold steel inventory. The delimitation therefore lies not only in the nature of the product (consumer good or not), but also in the fact that a separate decision per sector is needed before anything concrete applies.
No fixed date for these rules on steel
There is no fixed date when Articles 23 to 26 of the ESPR will have consequences for iron and steel. For some product groups, such as textiles and footwear, the ESPR already includes specific provisions on destruction of unsold inventory. For other product groups — including metal semi-finished products — it must first be determined, via a delegated act, whether and how this type of rule will apply. According to the European Commission's general work plan for 2025-2030, the first delegated act under the ESPR is expected in 2026, with obligations typically following eighteen months later. Whether and when this is specifically worked out for iron and steel remains uncertain. Until such an act is in place, nothing changes regarding the existing practice surrounding unsold inventory in this sector.
What this means for practice
For a steel trader or metal processor with unsold inventory, the first point is to establish whether it is a half-finished product that is further processed, or a product that is supplied directly to an end consumer — the latter rarely occurs in this sector, but is not inconceivable with certain finished products. With a half-finished product, destruction of unsold inventory is currently outside the scope of Articles 23 to 26. The second point is to monitor the delegated acts that the European Commission publishes: as soon as iron and steel (or a specific subcategory thereof) is designated, clarity emerges about whether and what conditions will apply. The third point is to document internally what happens to unsold inventory — not because this is now mandatory, but because a file with origin, destination and reason for disposal in any case aligns with the general line of the digital product passport and with future reporting obligations if these are introduced.
The basis: Articles 23 to 26 ESPR
This explanation is based on Articles 23 to 26 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ESPR), which concern the prevention of destruction of unsold consumer goods. For the precise scope, the product groups for which specific rules already apply and the procedure for future delegated acts, the official text of the regulation is the appropriate source.
Anyone who wants to get a grip on this development now can best monitor their own product category for the publication of new delegated acts under the ESPR, and already keep a simple internal record of what happens to unsold inventory. Once concrete rules come into place for iron and steel, this will be updated on this platform.
What this is based on
The regulation itself can be found on EUR-Lex. We provide references for each statement; you do not have to take our word for it.
What you must concretely do
What is expected of you
The ESPR contains a regulation that restricts the destruction of unsold consumer goods: Articles 23 to 26 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1781. This is new compared to existing practice, in which a batch of surplus or rejected material could typically be disposed of without much fuss. For steel and other semi-finished products, this will be different in the future, although it has not yet been determined when and for which product categories this will apply — the regulation provides for delegated acts per product group, and these do not yet exist for steel.
Disclosure of destroyed unsold products
Companies falling under the regulation are expected to periodically disclose information about the quantity of unsold products they destroy, with an explanation of the reasons. For a steel trader or metal processor with 10 to 100 employees, this means in practice that the disposal of, for example, a batch of sheet steel that no longer meets the original order cannot remain an internal, undocumented process. There must be a figure and a reason behind it, and that figure must be able to be made public at some point.
Prohibition on destruction for designated product groups
The regulation provides the basis for establishing an actual prohibition on the destruction of unsold products for specific product categories. This does not happen automatically for all products; it must be designated per product group. Whether and when this will happen for steel and steel semi-finished products is not yet determined. What is certain, however, is the direction: the legislator wants destruction to become the exception rather than a straightforward bottom line. A company that now brings inventory management and disposal processes into order is not thereby ahead of the curve without benefit — see also what can I already do while the rules are not yet final?.
Exceptions and the burden of proof for them
The regulation provides for exceptions, for example for products that cannot remain in circulation for safety or health reasons. A bent or torn plate, or material that no longer meets a certification requirement, may under certain circumstances fall under such an exception. In practice, this means that a company cannot simply rely on "it was no longer saleable" as a reason; there must be something that supports that exception. For a mid-sized company, this amounts to a documented assessment per batch, not a verbal agreement on the shop floor.
Reporting to supervisory authorities and the public
In addition to the company's own disclosure, the regulation provides for the possibility that a supervisory authority may request underlying data. This is in line with what also happens elsewhere in the ESPR chain: see what does a supervisory authority ask for during an inspection of steel?. A company that only has disposal reasons in the heads of its employees will be left empty-handed.
Where things go wrong in practice
A few situations recur among companies that are preparing for this or accidentally encounter it.
A warehouse employee disposes of a batch of coil remnants to a scrap dealer because there is "no demand for it anymore", without anyone having documented that decision or assessed it against an exception ground. Six months later, it is no longer possible to reconstruct why that batch was destroyed instead of being sold or reused.
A company combines the disposal of unsold, technically perfectly usable inventory with the disposal of genuinely rejected material in a single collection post "metal waste". As a result, it is no longer possible to distinguish between what would fall under the new regulation and what falls outside it.
A manufacturer assumes that the regulation will not be relevant for years anyway and postpones any documentation. If the delegated act for steel does come through, there will then be no basis of historical data to fill the first reporting period with.
A trading company with multiple locations implements waste disposal policy differently at each site: one location keeps records of why something is destroyed, the other does not. This becomes problematic once a consolidated overview is needed — a question that applies more broadly, see how do I arrange the product passport if I have multiple locations.
A company confuses the regulation on unsold products with the rules around the product passport itself, and thinks that destroying stock also "revokes" the passport. These are two separate issues: the passport concerns information accompanying the product, articles 23 to 26 concern what happens to the physical product if it remains unsold.
What you can document
- An internal register of unsold batches that are disposed of, including date, quantity, and reason for disposal.
- An assessment form per batch documenting whether an exception ground (safety, health, technical unsuitability) has been evaluated and on what data this evaluation is based.
- Separate accounting between "rejected material" (never intended for sale) and "unsold material" (intended for sale, but not sold), so that reporting afterwards is possible.
- A designated point of contact or process owner per location for destruction decisions, with a uniform protocol if there are multiple sites.
- An overview of the status of delegated acts per product group, so it is clear when a ban for steel specifically takes effect — we monitor this status and process it as soon as there is news.
For companies wishing to embed this in the broader preparation for the product passport, it is useful to combine this with setting up data management for stock already present when obligations take effect, see what do I do with steel stock already present when the rules take effect?. It is also practical to involve personnel who make daily decisions about disposal and destruction in instruction on what must and must not be recorded, see how do I train my staff to work with the product passport.
This is not legal advice. This page provides general information about the legislation that this platform deals with. We do not know your situation. If you are in doubt about your own case, consult a lawyer or the competent supervisory authority.
Written with AI based on the sources above, checked by a human on 2026-08-22. Is something not right? Let us know — corrections are given priority.