Understanding the Digital Product Passport
FAQ
What is a Digital Product Passport (DPP)?
A Digital Product Passport (DPP) is a standardized digital record that contains essential information about a product—its materials, components, environmental impact, and circularity potential. It is linked to a unique identifier and made accessible via digital means, such as a QR code or embedded data carrier.
The DPP is designed to ensure that critical sustainability and lifecycle information flows across the value chain—supporting decision-making, accountability, and transparency from production to reuse, recycling, and beyond.
It is not a one-time label, but a living, structured system of data—made to evolve with the product and accessible to stakeholders including manufacturers, regulators, retailers, recyclers, and consumers.
Why is the Digital Product Passport important?
The DPP plays a key role in enabling sustainable product systems and circular business models. It addresses a long-standing gap in global value chains: the lack of reliable, consistent product data.
By making product information accessible, structured, and secure, the DPP helps businesses meet environmental goals, improve material efficiency, and comply with emerging regulations. It also gives consumers access to clearer, more trustworthy data when making purchasing decisions.
The European Commission has outlined five main objectives for the DPP:
Enhancing sustainable production
Extending product lifetimes, optimising product use, and creating new business opportunities through circular value retention and extraction
Supporting consumers in making more sustainable choices
Enabling the transition to the circular economy by boosting material and energy efficiency
Helping authorities to verify compliance with regulatory frameworks
The DPP is not just a technical system—it’s a strategic mechanism for making product systems more transparent, accountable, and future-ready.
What makes the DPP different from a simple product label?
Unlike a product label or certification—which confirms compliance with a fixed set of criteria at a given point in time—the Digital Product Passport is a dynamic, structured, and evolving system of information. It is:
Digital and accessible—retrievable via QR code or other electronic means
Continuously updatable—able to reflect changes throughout a product’s lifecycle
Interoperable and secure—structured for use by diverse stakeholders, across systems and sectors
Beyond sustainability metrics, the DPP can include information on product content, quality, safety, durability, warranty, service and maintenance, performance, and more.
These are just examples: the structure of the DPP allows for the inclusion of a wide range of data, depending on the product category and policy context. Ultimately, it serves as a comprehensive digital profile that supports everything from compliance and risk management to customer service and circular business innovation.
Will the Digital Product Passport become mandatory?
Yes. Within the European Union, the Digital Product Passport will become a legal requirement for specific product groups under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR)—a key legislative instrument of the EU Green Deal.
Affected businesses will be required to:
Provide specific product data in a standardized digital format
Make that data accessible to authorized actors
Ensure the integrity and traceability of the information
Initial DPP obligations are expected to take effect as early as 2026, with additional sectors phased in over time.
Which industries are in focus for early DPP adoption?
The European Commission has identified several priority product groups for early DPP rollout based on environmental impact and potential for circular improvement:
Textiles and footwear
Consumer electronics and ICT equipment
Batteries
Furniture and mattresses
Tyres
Detergents, paints, and lubricants
Iron, steel, and aluminium
These sectors are expected to be the first subject to mandatory DPP requirements under the ESPR, with further industries to follow in future phases.
Why should companies start preparing for the Digital Product Passport?
Preparing for the Digital Product Passport is not just about staying compliant—it’s about staying competitive. Early adoption offers significant strategic advantages. It allows companies to:
Anticipate and adapt to evolving regulation with confidence
Improve supply chain transparency, enabling better material choices and responsible sourcing
Streamline sustainability reporting by embedding consistent, verifiable data systems
Increase stakeholder trust through traceable, credible product information
Enable new circular business models, such as resale, repair, and recycling services
Enhance internal alignment between digital, compliance, and sustainability teams
Position your brand as a leader in responsible innovation and transparent communication
Preparing now means more than being ready—it means being ahead. Organizations that start early will be better equipped to turn DPP compliance into a source of value creation, differentiation, and long-term resilience.
How can we help?
Strategic Advisory
“At DiPPa, we provide strategic advisory services to help organizations prepare for the Digital Product Passport as part of a broader sustainability and circularity transformation.
We do not develop technical platforms or software systems. Our role is to support clients in making the right strategic decisions early—so they can anticipate regulatory shifts, assess internal readiness, and align stakeholders around a clear, actionable path forward.”