Digital Product Passport for Textiles: Timeline & Dates

The textile digital product passport is not mandatory yet. It is created by the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR, Regulation (EU) 2024/1781), which is already in force, but the passport becomes compulsory for textiles only once the Commission adopts a delegated act for textiles, expected around 2027. One textile obligation is already dated, though: from 19 July 2026, large companies may not destroy unsold clothing.

That is the short version. The rest of this page is the timeline in full, because the textile DPP arrives in stages, and a lot of what circulates online treats a proposed date as a settled one.

Why the textile DPP has no single start date

The ESPR is a framework law. It sets up the digital product passport and the ecodesign rules, then hands the detail for each product group to a separate delegated act. Textiles get their own.

Until that delegated act is adopted, the exact data fields, the scope, and the date the passport becomes mandatory are not fixed. This is why an honest timeline gives firm dates for what is settled and a careful "expected" for what still depends on the delegated act.

It also means the one thing you can plan around today is not the passport itself. It is the unsold-stock destruction ban, which is already law with a real date.

The textile DPP timeline, date by date

• 18 July 2024 is when the ESPR entered into force. It replaced the 2009 Ecodesign Directive and set up the digital product passport framework across product groups.
• April 2025 brought the ESPR working plan for 2025 to 2030, which named apparel and clothing accessories as a priority group in the first wave.
• 19 July 2026 is when the ban on destroying unsold textiles starts to apply to large companies. This is the first concrete, dated textile obligation under the ESPR.
• Around 2027 is the indicative timeframe for the textile delegated act, which will define the passport's data set and the date it becomes mandatory. Treat this as expected, not fixed.
• After the delegated act comes a transition period before the passport is actually required on products. The precise lead time is set by that act.

The dated obligation most brands miss

While the passport is still being drafted, the destruction ban is already counting down.

From 19 July 2026, large companies may no longer destroy unsold clothing, clothing accessories, and footwear. Medium-sized companies get an extended transition period. Micro and small enterprises are exempt from the destruction ban.

This is the part of the ESPR that bites first, and it is easy to overlook because everyone is watching the passport. If you hold unsold stock at any scale, this is the date on the calendar, not 2027.

What to do before the delegated act lands

You cannot file a textile passport today, because the fields are not final. But the work that makes the passport achievable is the same work you can start now: knowing, for every style, what it is made of, where the materials came from, and what evidence stands behind each claim.

Brands that already hold clean fibre composition, material origin, and durability data will publish a passport in an afternoon once the format is set. Brands that do not will spend the transition period chasing suppliers.

For what the passport is and how it works, start with what a textile digital product passport is. For the field-level data it will demand, see what a textile passport must hold. Like the PPWR timeline for packaging, the smart move is to be ready for the file before the deadline names itself. See the textile passport breakdown.

FAQ

When does the textile digital product passport become mandatory? Not yet. The ESPR that creates it is in force, but the passport becomes compulsory for textiles only once the Commission adopts the textile delegated act, expected around 2027, followed by a transition period. The exact date is set by that act.

What is the 19 July 2026 textile deadline? From 19 July 2026, large companies may no longer destroy unsold clothing, clothing accessories, and footwear under the ESPR. It is the first dated textile obligation. Medium companies get an extended transition, and micro and small enterprises are exempt.

Has the textile DPP been delayed? There was never a single fixed start date to delay. The passport depends on a delegated act the Commission has not yet adopted, so its mandatory date is still open, indicatively around 2027.

Which regulation sets the textile DPP timeline? The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, which entered into force on 18 July 2024 and defers the product-specific detail for textiles to a separate delegated act.

What can textile brands do before the delegated act is adopted? Gather and keep clean product data now: fibre composition, material origins, durability and recycled content, with evidence behind each claim. When the format is fixed, a brand that already holds that data can publish its passports quickly.