What is the Digital Product Passport?
The Digital Product Passport is a digital record containing standardized information about a product throughout its lifecycle.
Instead of relying solely on physical labels or separate documentation, information can be accessed digitally through technologies such as QR codes or NFC tags. Depending on the product category, the passport may include information such as:
- Product identification
- Materials and substances
- Carbon footprint and environmental performance
- Repairability and spare parts
- Recycled content
- Instructions for reuse, refurbishment and recycling
- Compliance with relevant EU legislation
The objective is to improve transparency across the value chain while supporting the transition towards a more circular economy.
Why is the EU introducing Digital Product Passports?
The Digital Product Passport is introduced through the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), which entered into force in July 2024.
The regulation aims to make products more durable, repairable, recyclable, and resource-efficient while reducing environmental impacts throughout the product lifecycle.
Unlike previous ecodesign rules that mainly focused on energy-related products, ESPR gradually expands to cover almost all physical products placed on the EU market.
The Digital Product Passport is one of the regulation's most important implementation tools.
Which industries will be affected?
The passport will not apply to every product immediately. The European Commission is introducing product groups gradually through delegated acts, with the first sectors expected over the next few years.
Industries expected to be among the first include:
Batteries
Battery passports are already being introduced under the EU Battery Regulation. Large industrial batteries and electric vehicle batteries will require digital passports containing information on carbon footprint, recycled materials, performance, durability and responsible sourcing.
Textiles
The textile industry is expected to be one of the first sectors under ESPR.
Product passports will likely include:
- Fibre composition
- Recycled content
- Chemical substances
- Repairability
- Care instructions
- Recycling information
This will support both consumers and textile recyclers.
Electronics
Electronics manufacturers are expected to provide information on:
- Repairability
- Spare part availability
- Software support
- Material composition
- Critical raw materials
- Recycling instructions
The passport supports the EU's broader Right to Repair initiative.
Construction Products
Construction products already face increasing sustainability documentation requirements through the revised Construction Products Regulation (CPR).
Digital Product Passports are expected to improve transparency regarding:
- Material composition
- Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs)
- Circularity
- Reuse potential
- Chemical content
For manufacturers, importers and suppliers, the challenge is often not producing the information, it is having reliable systems to collect, validate and share it.
Many companies currently store product data across multiple systems, suppliers and spreadsheets. The Digital Product Passport requires structured, consistent and traceable information throughout the supply chain.
This means companies should begin assessing:
- What product data already exists?
- Where are the information gaps?
- How is supplier data collected?
- Which IT systems will support Digital Product Passports?
- Who owns product data internally?
The companies that build strong product data governance today will be better prepared not only for DPP, but also for future sustainability reporting, circular business models and customer requirements.
What should you do now?
Although many detailed requirements are still under development, the direction is already clear.
Companies should not wait for their specific product category before starting preparations.
Instead, this is a good opportunity to:
- Map existing product information
- Identify missing sustainability data
- Improve supplier data collection
- Strengthen product data governance
- Prepare digital systems for future passport requirements
Digital Product Passports are not simply another compliance exercise. They represent a new digital infrastructure for product information—one that will increasingly become an expectation across European value chains.
Preparing early will reduce future implementation costs while strengthening competitiveness in a market where transparency is becoming the norm.Please feel free to contact us for a no-obligation review of where your company currently stands.
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Sources: Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation – ESPR); Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 (Battery Regulation); European Commission Ecodesign Working Plan 2025–2030; European Commission Digital Product Passport initiative.