Digital Product Passport
The European Union will soon require certain products sold in the EU market to have a digital product passport.
What is a Digital Product Passport?
A digital product passport (DPP) is a digital record of a unique product’s complete life cycle, storing key traceability data about the product. This data aims to support the circular economy, decarbonization, and sustainability. The EU Digital Product Passport helps to create sustainable value chains. The passports standardize the information that manufacturers must include for every product.
DPPs in practice
Putting DPPs into practice requires a technical solution to collect all data about manufactured and distributed products. Digital traceability technology is key to deploying DPPs at an enterprise level. All physical components and materials have unique digital identities (UIDs). Any time something happens to a product during its supply chain journey, a DPP collects data associated with the UID.
Added benefits from traceability
Critical to making the DPP concept work is the need to establish more centralized data repositories to consolidate all the traceability data that will be required to report to the EU. Companies also gain additional business benefits from traceability, which is why many companies are starting today.
EU Requirements
→ Each product must have a unique identifier that meets ISO/IEC 15459:2015 standards.
→ Product information should be easily readable by machines, searchable, and well-structured using open standards.
→ Include compliance or technical documents like declarations of conformity or certifications.
→ Provide user manuals, instructions, safety warnings, and information.
→ Manufacturer details including unique operator identifiers should be included.
→ Information on the manufacturing facility and importer, including the EORI number, is required.
→ Contact and identification details of the EU economic operator responsible for product safety must be provided.
Categories
Batteries
Textiles
Toys
Electronics
Furniture
Building Materials
Lubricants
Tires
Detergents
Cosmetics
Six Steps to Digital Product Passport Readiness
From regulatory burden to a profit center
Reach out to us for a discussion on an incremental preparation that enables a future-proof DPP solution that will provide benefits immediately.
Eric Lequenne
Business Development Director Partnerships
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Frequently asked questions
A digital product passport is a digital record of a unique product’s complete life cycle, storing key traceability data about the product, all aimed at supporting the circular economy, decarbonization, and sustainability. Data remains available at least until the product’s end of life.
Batteries and textiles are the first product categories the DPP will cover. The DPP rollout will be gradual, and batteries and textiles are already subject to the draft regulations. Toys will be the next category for which the EU will roll out DPP requirements.
The information or data contained in a digital product passport will depend on the product and product category. Generally, the passport will include information about the origin, production, delivery, use, and recycling of that product, with a verifiable set of traceability data from across the product’s entire life cycle.
Practically, when scanning a QR code on a product, the user will automatically be redirected to an online page that displays the complete and updated product passport for the specific product at hand.
This passport data together tells a story about a product and where it, and its component parts, have been. Product lifecycle data can help inform and reassure consumers of the product’s origin, confirm green credentials and prevent greenwashing, and enable manufacturers to contribute to a more circular economy that prioritizes durability, reuse, and efficiency of methods and materials.