Towards a circular economy with the Digital Product Passport

General

2023-08-02

The Digital Product Passport (DPP) contains product information about the entire life cycle of a product. It provides centralised and standardised access to this information a and increases the transparency of supply chains. This supports the transition to a circular economy in the European Union (EU).

Eine Schachtel, das auf einem Klemmbrett steht und auf dem eine Schleife mit der Aufschrift "Best Quality Certified" angebracht ist. — © storyset / Freepik

The EU's ambition under the European Green Deal is to transform the economy from a linear to a circular economy. This is defined in the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) [1] [2]. The aim of a circular economy is to minimise the consumption of resources by sharing or leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling products. In this way, fewer new raw resources need to be added to the cycle [3] [4].

In addition, the EU is working to reduce its dependence on resources from third countries [5]. In order to tie products and raw materials to this goal in the European cycle and to enable circular approaches, comprehensive information is required - including information

on the product's ingredients, their quality and

origin [6]. This is where the DPP sets in.

The Digital Product Passport

The DPP can be accessed via QR codes or comparable technologies for product identification [7]. It contains information about the entire life cycle of a product. The transparency created in this way enables consumers to make better-informed purchasing decisions.

Furthermore, the DPP facilitates market surveillance and conformity assessment. It makes relevant information more accessible to market surveillance authorities and conformity assessment bodies. For the repair and recycling process, the DPP provides important information about the components of a product. This is relevant for batteries, for example, as some of their components can be dangerous for consumers when disposed of. Detailed information is therefore essential for handling them safely.

Progress in the development of Digital Product Passports

The development of necessary structures for the introduction of DDPs is currently taking place in the EU based on three use cases including Battery Passports, Textile Passports and DPP4.0 for an Industrie 4.0-compliant DPP development. The EU is starting to introduce DPPs in selected product categories. These include, for example, textiles, metals and chemicals [8]. To develop the basis for the DPP, the EU has commissioned the CIRPASS initiative, which was established in the framework of the Digital Europe Programme [9]. CIRPASS is initially focusing on the electronics, batteries and textiles sectors [10]. For the battery sector, the Battery Passport is currently already in development [11]. In the long term, the DPP is planned for all products that fall under the EU's new Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) [12].

Digital Product Passports and standardisation

The quality and comparability of the data included are crucial for implementing the DPP concept. To ensure interoperability, international norms and standards must be developed that define a standardised data architecture and enable interfaces to actors at all stages of the supply chain. Only then all actors involved in global supply chains will be able to provide the relevant information and the DPP can fulfil its function.

As the supply chain actors concerned are often localised outside the EU, norms and standards need to be developed and established at international level to prevent competing approaches and standards. The European consortia dedicated to the development of DPP use cases are therefore primarily involved in international standardisation organisations in order to establish European approaches on a global scale.

The role of GPQI

GPQI supports the necessary international standardisation activities on the DPP in the partner countries Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and Mexico. The bilateral exchanges on the DPP promote transparency in supply chains. This way, all actors who come into contact with a product during its life cycle are better informed.

Visit the following pages for further information:
Landscape of Digital Product Passport Standards: Landscape of Digital Product Passport Standards | StandICT.eu 2026
Standardization Roadmap Circular Economy Circular Economy I Standards making way for the circular economy (din.de)

Quellen:

[1] Circular economy action plan (europa.eu)

[2] A European Green Deal (europa.eu)

[3] Standardization Roadmap Circular Economy (din.de)

[4] Circular economy: definition, importance and benefits | News | European Parliament (europa.eu)

[5] Vgl. Critical Raw Materials Act, Net Zero Industry Act

[6] Vgl. New conference paper: Requirements for the Digital Product Passport (DPP) to promote the circular economy – IWAR-SuR – TU Darmstadt (tu-darmstadt.de)

[7] FAQ – CIRPASS (cirpassproject.eu)

[8] CIRPASS-presentation.pdf (cirpassproject.eu)

[9] About CIRPASS – CIRPASS (cirpassproject.eu)

[10] CIRPASS-presentation.pdf (cirpassproject.eu)