Digital Product Passport (DPP)

Introduced by the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), the DPP will store and share data on material composition, environmental footprint, reparability, and end-of-life options, facilitating the transition to a circular economy and climate neutrality.

Key Objectives

• Full transparency: provide reliable information to consumers, repairers, recyclers, and authorities.
• Improved circularity: enable easier disassembly, recycling, and component reuse.
• Fight against greenwashing: verified and harmonised data across the EU.
• Competitiveness: drive eco-design and data-driven after-sales services.

Mandatory Content

• Product identity: model number, batch, manufacturer, country of origin.
• Material composition: declaration at ≥ 0.1% by weight, including chemical additives.
• Recycled content and recyclability (%).
• Embodied carbon footprint (Cradle-to-Gate) and Water Scarcity Footprint (AWARE).
• Repair and disassembly instructions: time, tools, spare parts.
• Durability and expected service life cycles.
• End-of-life routes: collection points, reverse logistics, deposit schemes.
• Firmware/software updates (for digital products).
• Service history (optional) for product-as-a-service models.

Technical Architecture

• Unique identifier: QR/NFC linked to a GS1 Digital Link URI.
• Semantic database: EPCIS 2.0 ontology plus circular economy vocabulary.
• API interoperability: role-based access (consumer, repairer, waste manager, customs).
• Security and privacy: TLS encryption and OAuth2-based access control.
• Optional blockchain: hash anchoring to ensure integrity of critical data (e.g. conflict minerals, recycled content).
• Dynamic updates: product digital twins synchronised at each event (maintenance, remanufacturing).

Expected Deployment Timeline

• Q4 2025: ESPR enters into force; 18-month transitional period.
• Q3 2026: Textiles and batteries required to carry a DPP.
• 2027: Furniture, mattresses, consumer electronics, and steel.
• 2028–2030: Extension to cement, chemicals, construction products, solar panels, and all remaining categories.

Use Cases and Benefits

• Consumers: scan a QR code to view carbon footprint, reparability, available parts, and durability comparisons.
• Repairers: access to 3D manuals, spare part codes, and online diagnostics.
• Waste managers: identification of materials and chemicals for safe dismantling and sorting.
• Authorities: market surveillance and verification of ESPR, CBAM, and environmental tax compliance.
• Manufacturers: closed-loop analysis, product-as-a-service contracts, and component take-back.

Regulatory and Standards Links

• ESPR Regulation: Article 7 defines DPP requirements.
• Right to Repair (R2R) Directive: DPP facilitates access to instructions and spare parts.
• CSRD / ESRS: DPP data feeds circularity (E5) and footprint (E1) reporting.
• EU Batteries Regulation 2023/1542: mandates a digital passport for EV batteries from 2027.

Challenges and Barriers

• Digitisation costs for SMEs and niche producers.
• Intellectual property protection versus transparency.
• Semantic standardisation: harmonising data across sectors (textiles vs electronics).
• Global interoperability: compatibility with passports in other regions (US, China).
• Cybersecurity: preventing counterfeiting and unauthorised access.

Corporate Roadmap

• Data diagnostics: identify gaps in composition, footprints, and service data.
• DPP platform selection: SaaS or in-house; APIs and optional blockchain.
• Product-line pilots: textiles and electronics before 2026.
• PLM-ERP-MES integration: ensure automated data capture.
• Maintenance and update strategy: contractualise with suppliers and customers.
• Training and communication: upskill staff and inform consumers.

Trends 2024–2030

• Multi-company digital twins combining environmental impact, in-use IoT data, and product health.
• Circular business models: furniture leasing, electronics subscriptions.
• Digital passport marketplaces for large-scale traceability and product ratings.
• Integration with industrial blockchain for recycling credits and offset mechanisms.

The Digital Product Passport will become the “environmental ID” of goods placed on the EU market. By integrating data on composition, impact, and circularity, it will transform how products are designed, used, and recycled—creating new markets and accelerating the transition to a sustainable and transparent economy.