The EU rules behind the textile passport, explained.
The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation will make a Digital Product Passport mandatory for textiles. Here is what it says, where the rules stand today, and what is still moving.
ESPR, in plain language
The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation entered into force in July 2024. It is the legal backbone of the Digital Product Passport, but it is a framework: the textile specific requirements are set separately, in a delegated act.
That delegated act is expected late 2026 to 2027. It will fix which data fields a textile passport must carry, for which products, and from when. Brands then get a transition period, which is why compliance is realistically expected from around 2028.
Until the delegated act is adopted, nobody can sell you compliance. What you can do is structure the data every version of the rules will ask for: composition, weights, origin, substances and care.
The timeline
Where the rules stand
Every milestone below, with its status. Dates for future milestones are expectations, not law.
ESPR in forceDone
Reg. (EU) 2024/1781The EU Ecodesign Regulation entered into force, the legal basis for Digital Product Passports.
Separate textile collectionDone
Waste Framework DirectiveEU countries collect textile waste separately, the first step of the wider producer responsibility framework.
First ESPR working planDone
The Commission adopted its first ESPR working plan, scheduling which product groups get passport requirements first.
Textile delegated actExpected
The textile specific passport requirements are adopted at EU level. Only then do the exact mandatory fields become law.
National textile EPR schemesUpcoming
Waste Framework Directive revisionEU countries stand up producer responsibility schemes with fees based on weight and recyclability.
DPP compliance expectedExpected
Passports realistically become mandatory for textiles placed on the EU market.
Last reviewed July 2026. Dates are expectations, not legal advice.
Before the passport
Textile EPR arrives first
While the passport deadline sits around 2028, Extended Producer Responsibility comes sooner: EU countries are required to stand up national textile EPR schemes by around mid 2027, and separate textile collection already applies.
EPR fees are expected to be eco modulated: what you pay depends on garment weight and recyclability. That is exactly the data the Seamdex calculation engine produces for every product, and the EPR export turns it into the report your scheme will ask for.
See what Seamdex calculatesCompliance questions
Be ready before it is required.
Start structuring your product data now. Monthly or yearly billing, by card or invoice.