Am I allowed to destroy unsold mattress stock?

What you concretely must do

The ESPR contains a separate section on the destruction of unsold consumer goods. Articles 23 to 26 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ESPR) govern this: the power to limit or prohibit destruction, and the obligation to provide transparency when it does occur. For mattresses, it has not yet been established when and in what form this will apply — this will be determined through a delegated act that is developed per product group. What is already stated in the regulation itself is clear enough to build on now.

What is expected of you

Provide transparency about destroyed inventory

The ESPR requires companies that destroy unsold consumer goods to disclose information about it: how many products are involved, why they were destroyed, and how they were handled. For a mattress manufacturer or importer with 10 to 100 employees, this means that returns, surpluses and seasonal inventory that are ultimately disposed of can no longer silently disappear from the balance sheet. A numerical picture must be created: quantities, reason, processing method. Companies that already keep track of this in their administration will not need to reconstruct what happened to returned mattresses over the past years after the fact.

Take into account a possible ban for specific product groups

Articles 23 to 26 give the European Commission the power to limit or prohibit the destruction of unsold inventory for specific product groups. Whether mattresses will be on that list is not yet certain — this is part of the delegated act that still needs to be adopted. Practically speaking, this means that a company that routinely destroys returned mattresses, showroom models or excess inventory would be wise to start inventorying what alternatives are available now: donations, refurbishment, recycling of materials. Not because it is already mandatory, but because the options will shrink if a ban does come into effect and there is no alternative route in place by then.

Distinguish between categories of unsold inventory

The regulation addresses unsold consumer goods in a broad sense, which means that a company must clearly understand for itself which flows fall under that heading: factory surpluses, returns after trial sleeping, showroom models, inventory that is no longer sold due to model changes. One category may be subject to a different regime than another, especially if a future ban comes with exceptions. A company that already registers these flows separately will not need to reconstruct data retroactively later.

Where things go wrong in practice

Returned mattresses automatically go into the container. At many bedding specialists and manufacturers, the destruction of returned mattresses is a standard procedure, often for hygiene reasons. The fact that this procedure was once established for the trial sleep policy does not mean it is separate from what is now being regulated at European level. See also what do I do with mattresses that come back after trial sleeping? for the broader context of this flow.

No quantity or weight is recorded. Destruction often takes place through a waste processor who collects and processes the mattresses, without the company itself keeping a count or record of how many there were and why they were disposed of. Without that basic record, there is nothing to fall back on if transparency is later requested.

Showroom models and seasonal inventory fall out of view. Attention often focuses on returns, but showroom models that disappear after a collection change, or inventory that is no longer sold due to a supplier stop, run the same risk. This is rarely treated as one and the same category of "unsold consumer goods", while the regulation makes no such distinction.

No distinction between destruction and recycling. Sending a mattress to a recycling facility where materials are recovered is different from destruction without beneficial use. In practice, these two are often lumped together in internal reports, while it is relevant for future obligations which of the two it was. Setting up a recycling facility aligns with how do I arrange collection and recycling of old mattresses?

Staff are not aware that something is changing here. Sales staff processing returns or warehouse workers disposing of stock often still act according to old instructions. Without updating those instructions, nothing changes in practice, even if the policy has been adjusted on paper. This falls under the broader question how do I inform my shop staff about the digital product passport for mattresses, although it concerns instructions on destruction just as much as it concerns the product passport itself.

What you can record

• A record of destroyed and disposed stock, with quantities, reason for disposal (return, showroom model, surplus, quality issue) and processing method (destruction, recycling, donation).
• A separate overview per category of unsold stock: returns after trial sleeping, factory surpluses, showroom models and stock that becomes obsolete due to assortment changes.
• Internal instructions for warehouse and sales staff on what happens to returned or surplus mattresses, and who reports on it.
• Agreements with waste processors or recycling partners on which data they return: weight, quantity, processing method.
• An overview of alternative destinations that have already been investigated or used, such as donation to charities, refurbishment or material recycling, so that in the event of a possible future ban, a working alternative is already in place rather than the process having to start from scratch.

As long as the delegated act for mattresses has not been established, none of these points is a legal obligation based on articles 23 to 26. They do, however, form the basis with which a company can soon demonstrate what happens to unsold stock, instead of having to search for it afterwards. A broader overview of what can already be set up without risk is available in what can I already do while the rules are not yet final?