Introduction to the Digital Product Passport
A person’s passport uniquely iden fies them and holds specific pieces of informa on about
them, such as their date of birth and na onality. Similarly, a digital product passport (DPP) is a
special type of dataset that holds informa on about an item being manufactured. This includes
details about technical performance, carbon footprint, and other characteris cs that affect
recycling and reuse of cons tuent materials. It is one of the main components that companies
must create to be compliant with the ESPR (Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regula on),
introduced by the European Union in July 2024.
The exact structure of and proper es within a DPP are s ll under consulta on, though there is
a desire to achieve cross-sector standardisa oni. These likely won’t start to be mandated un l
at least 2027 (with introduc on of the related ba ery passport legisla onii). However, some case
studies are emerging that demonstrate the likely components of a DPP, given the aims of the
ESPR - to enable greater visibility and sharing of product data across the en re value chain and
life cycle. In this way, widespread adop on of the DPP concept will be a key enabler to making
manufacturing more sustainable.
Each instance of a DPP corresponds to an actual physical device or system, and contains real
data related to the product. The illustra on below shows how a product passport may be
configured as a collec on of submodels that are each tailored to a certain type of informa oniii.
Some example proper es are listed on the right. Construc ng the DPP in this way is a powerful
but flexible approach that allows it to hold a wealth of informa on about a product, being
populated with data from design right through to the item’s end of life.
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Extra Resources
The links below provide further introduc on to the digital product passport:
Could product passports revolu onise the way we shop?
h ps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68283317
Ar cle from BBC news featuring two commercial applica ons of DPP trialled in the UK
(ma ress recycling and clothing produc on).
DPP4.0 – The Digital Product Passport for Industry 4.0
h ps://dpp40.eu/
An introductory page from the Industrial Digital Twin Associa on (IDTA) and ZVEI in
Germany. It has some high-level content, including a short video illustra ng the DPP concept.
EU's Digital Product Passport: Advancing transparency and sustainability
h ps://data.europa.eu/en/news-events/news/eus-digital-product-passport-advancing-
transparency-and-sustainability
A short summary from the European Union of the ra onale behind DPPs, with a link to more
comprehensive detail on the new regula on driving their introduc on (ESPR - Ecodesign for
Sustainable Products Regula on).
i
CIRPASS Project h ps://cirpassproject.eu/project-results/
ii
Ba ery Passport h ps://theba erypass.eu/content-guidance-facts/
iii
AAS Examples: h ps://industrialdigitaltwin.org/dpp4-0
An Asset Administra on Shell-Based Digital Product Passport as a Gaia-X Service
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