What is the EU’s Digital Product Passport?

A Digital Product Passport (DPP) is a digital document (digital twin) of a physical product that securely records event, transactional, and sustainability-based data across the product’s lifecycle. The digital twin is connected to the physical product via a QR code, barcode, or other technology such as NFC tagging, and is accessible via a smart device application.

Designed to bridge the gap between increasing consumer and enterprise demands for transparency and the lack of reliable product data, the DPP includes details on unique product identifiers, compliance documentation, and information on substances of concern. It also provides user manuals, safety instructions, and guidance on the correct method for end-of-life disposal of the product.

By offering a detailed digital record of a product’s lifecycle, the DPP also aims to enhance supply chain management by giving manufacturers insights into their suppliers' sustainability governance, ensuring regulatory compliance, and helping companies and consumers identify and mitigate against fake products and environmental impact risks.

Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) 

In March 2020, the European Commission proposed a package of new measures under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) to improve product sustainability through a circular economy business model, to be implemented across European Union (EU) member countries.

The ESPR, which took effect on July 18, 2024, forms the foundation of the European Commission’s approach to environmentally sustainable and circular products. It promotes clarity across value chains by providing comprehensive information about a product’s origin, materials, environmental impact, and disposal guidelines.

The DPP, which falls under the ESPR and will come into effect in 2026, requires most products sold in the EU after a certain date to carry the digital record. Deadlines for products to comply vary depending on the product sector and are set at intervals from 2026. The DPP was created to help the EU reach its environmental and climate goals, including doubling its circularity rate of material use and achieving its energy efficiency targets by 2030.

Benefits of the Digital Product Passport

The DPP offers consumers and enterprises a range of benefits including:

• Transparency: Offers detailed product data, such as origin, materials, environmental impact, and recyclability, accessible electronically throughout all stages of the value chain.
• Sustainability: Promotes environmentally friendly practices by sharing information on carbon emissions, resource use, and recyclability.
• Traceability: Tracking a product’s lifecycle—from raw materials to end-of-life disposal—improves supply chain visibility and accountability.
• Product quality and safety: Ensures compliance with safety and quality standards via certifications, instructions, and test results.
• Ethics insights: Verified product data on sustainability, ethical sourcing, and environmental impact to support ethics-based purchasing decisions.
• Circular economy: Promotes longer product lifespans by detailing repairability, reusability, and hazardous materials present, to reduce waste.
• Innovation and design: Encourages product innovation through repairable and sustainable design and a recycle, repair, reuse mindset among consumers.
• Regulatory compliance: Standardizes sustainability data for easy compliance with the ESPR and other EU regulations.
• Digital transformation: Blockchain and IoT technology provide real-time, verifiable access to product data across the supply chain to create a digital twin of each product.
• Data security and privacy: Protects sensitive data from falling into the wrong hands by using blockchain technology while maintaining transparency for regulatory and sustainability purposes.

Following open data principles, the DPP prioritizes making detailed product information publicly available and supports initiatives that emphasize transparency and accessibility. This approach improves product integrity and sustainability practices and facilitates better data sharing and collaboration across the industry.

As the EU fosters a more open and responsible marketplace by integrating open data principles, the DPP will ensure the visibility and integrity of product information, benefiting enterprises, consumers, and the environment.