With deadlines rolling out across the EU, brands are expected to report what they place on the market, starting with packaging. But how do you actually keep track of it all? And where does it fit into your daily work? In this article, we break down what EPR means for fashion, where it’s heading next, and how you can manage it all from inside your PLM system

EPR, yet another abbreviation with real impact

So, what are we actually talking about? EPR stands for Extended Producer Responsibility, and in short, it means that brands are now being held accountable for what they place on the European market, not just during production and sale, but all the way through to when it's thrown out. Read more about the directive here.

In the first rollout, packaging is the main focus. For example, in Denmark, brands in the fashion industry will need to start reporting on packaging from October 2025. And no, it’s not just Denmark. EPR is implemented differently in each EU country, because it’s not one single EU-wide regulation. It’s a directive, which means each member state sets its own rules, deadlines, and fees. So if you sell in several markets, you’ll need to register and report in each of them individually. This might feel overly complicated, and it is a bit. But there’s a reason behind it. Waste and recycling systems vary a lot from country to country, so there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. What is consistent is the goal: to make producers, meaning brands, take responsibility for their impact, starting with the packaging their products arrive in.

Packaging is where it hits first

As mentioned earlier, packaging is the first area where EPR will hit the fashion industry. And here's the important part: it doesn’t matter how big or small your brand is. If you place packaging on the EU market, you’ll need to report it. In Denmark’s EPR legislation, packaging is split into material types like aluminium, glass, ferrous metal, food and beverage cartons, cardboard, paper, plastic, wood, ceramics, cork, porcelain, and textiles. Yes, that’s a long list. And no, don’t panic at the mention of textiles. When they say “textiles,” they mean textile-based materials used as packaging, not your collections. So your cotton tote bag used as wrapping might count, but not the t-shirt inside it.

But this doesn’t mean textiles are off the hook. That part is coming too. On September 9th, the EU Parliament adopted the proposal to revise the Waste Framework Directive, which includes EPR for textiles. Once this new version officially becomes law (what’s called entering into force), member states will have 30 months to roll out their national EPR schemes, meaning they’ll each create their own rules, deadlines, and reporting structures for textile waste. It sounds like a lot, and it is, but the takeaway is this: start with packaging, and use that as your practice round. Because textiles will follow, and getting the process in place now will make things a whole lot easier later.

You can’t report what you don’t track

Let’s be real, data isn’t the sexiest topic in the fashion industry. But lately, it’s become a part of our everyday vocabulary, whether we like it or not. And no matter how boring it might sound, we can’t just ignore it. Especially not now. Because when regulations like EPR kick in, you’ll be expected to report, in detail, on every bit of packaging you use. That means you need to know things like what kind of packaging is used for which style, where it came from, what it’s made of, and how much of it went out the door.

Sounds messy? It can be. But there are ways to make it a whole lot easier.  A good place to start is by making some internal decisions. For example: Stick to a few standard polybag sizes, use the same supplier, and keep the material composition consistent. That way, you’re not reinventing the wheel every time you release a new style. And you’re not scrambling to pull together data that was never properly saved.

But standardising your materials is only part of it. You also need a place to store it all. Because no matter how tidy your packaging setup is, there’s going to be a lot of data, and you don’t want it scattered across spreadsheets and inboxes. Whether you go the nominated route or keep doing things your own way, the key is having everything stored in one place, ready to be pulled when the reporting deadline comes around.

EPR prep, built into your daily workflow

Let’s flip the question: what if your EPR reporting didn’t have to feel like something “extra”? What if it just sat inside the work you already do, every day, while setting up your styles? That’s the thinking behind how we’ve structured it in Delogue.

Start by creating your different packaging types as items in the platform. From there, simply attach the relevant packaging item to the styles where it’s used. Some are reusing the same polybags, boxes, or hangers across seasons, so why not let the system do the heavy lifting? The key is to add enough detail to each packaging item: think material, dimensions, weight, and unit. Once that’s in place, you can easily filter by season and packaging and generate usage reports with everything in one view. You can even add a "used in styles" column or create a custom field to indicate packaging material types.

You might wonder why this belongs in your PLM and not your ERP. The answer? Because this is where packaging gets chosen. This is where you still have it in your hands, you’re making decisions about what to use and what it’s made of. When you capture that data here, while it’s fresh and accurate, your ERP can later pull the quantities needed to calculate your impact. No backtracking. No guessing.

Need help getting it all set up? Reach out for guidance here.

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