France to seek ban on destroying unsold goods

Luxury has an eco-friendly problem when it comes to the burning and destruction of unsold golds. Rather than make it part of the circular economy or send it to an outlet store, they often burn unsold inventory. Burberry found themselves in hot water over this a few years ago, and has since changed their policy of destroying unsold goods. Now, France is taking action to ensure that no fashion company is allowed to do this within their borders ever again.

“Too many companies feel OK with just throwing away or destroying the shoes or the clothing that haven’t been sold,” French deputy ecology minister Brune Poirson said at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit. “You can’t do this anymore. It’s shocking.”

Although Poirson is calling on brands to take matters into their own hands and handle this, but says that the government will pursue a ban. French president Emanuel Macron has already tapped Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault to lead a global fashion sustainability drive. Regarding the burning of unsold golds, Pinault said to Bloomberg, "The fact that this is how we’ve always done it doesn’t mean we should continue. Even if we don’t have solutions for everything, let’s commit.”