New EU requirements are being introduced to address the destruction of unsold consumer goods.
At BESTSELLER, we have no interest in destroying undamaged products. We continuously work to optimise our purchasing and inventory planning to ensure the right products are available for the market while minimising excess stock.
When discussing product disposal, it is important to distinguish between three different categories: damaged products, defective returned products and excess products.
DAMAGED products
A small share of products become damaged during transportation, most commonly due to water or mould damage. Because these products may pose a risk to consumer safety, they cannot be sold, reused or donated.
In these cases, products are disposed of in the most appropriate way available, typically through energy recovery. Attempting to remove mould would require additional resources, including water, chemicals, transportation and handling, and even then, traces of mould might still remain.
RETURNED DEFECTIVE products
Products returned by customers due to defects are handled through several channels, depending on local store practices and available recycling solutions.
Some products are sent back to our central warehouse, where they may be resold in alternative markets or donated.
Other returned products are collected by the recycling company Interzero, which either prepares them for reuse or recycles the fibres for other applications, such as insulation materials or playground surfaces
EXCESS PRODUCTS
Unsold products from stores are primarily sold through markdowns and other commercial channels.
Where appropriate, excess products may also be returned to our central warehouse for resale in other markets or donated to charitable organisations.
Measures taken and planned to prevent destruction of unsold products
Our primary focus is to ensure that we purchase and produce the right quantities from the outset. This is a natural and integrated part of our business approach, supported by continuous demand forecasting, inventory planning and close collaboration across functions to align supply with customer demand.
In cases where inventory exceeds demand, we continuously monitor sales performance and stock levels to identify slow-moving products at an early stage. We then implement appropriate measures such as stock redistribution, markdown activities and alternative sales channels to maximise sell-through and minimise unsold products.
Products that cannot be resold, including returned items, damaged products and samples, are managed in accordance with our internal Waste-to-Value Policy, which prioritises reuse, recycling and resource recovery whenever possible.
Going forward, we will continue to strengthen our efforts across all stages of the product lifecycle by further improving demand forecasting, inventory planning and allocation, enhancing our ability to identify and manage excess stock and continuously developing our reuse, recycling and resource recovery practices in line with our Waste-to-Value Policy.
Data on discarded products
To comply with EU reporting requirements, BESTSELLER publishes annual information on discarded products, including the number of discarded products, the reasons for discarding them and how they are subsequently managed through reuse, recycling, energy recovery or disposal. The table below provides an overview of these figures.