What is a Digital Product Passport?

A digital product passport (DPP) is a label, QR code, or scannable chip that displays information about the item’s environmental impact, composition, production, and history. The DPP helps track each stage of the product’s journey from its beginning to what’s in front of you. It shows what it’s made of, where the materials came from, and its carbon footprint.

But what does this have to do with waste management? Well, the use of a digital product passport in the UK for various items is important to improve the sustainability, recyclability, and recovery of products. It could help prevent many products from making their way to landfills and reduce wasteful practices.

Discover everything you need to know about what digital product passports are, how they work, what businesses and customers should understand about them, and the sustainable benefits they could introduce.

Various bits of data are covered with the digital product passport requirements. It should show where the product came from, what it contains, and other information about its sustainability. Digital product passport requirements include information about the item’s:

• General data – information about the product weight and volume, the product ID, batch, and reference numbers, where and when it was produced, and manufacturer operating ID. This proves the item’s authenticity to help consumers avoid forgeries.
• Origin – the source of raw materials and components used in the product, information about any recycled or recovered materials used to create it, sustainability credentials for the manufacturing or production processes, and locations of where everything within the product came from as well as manufacturing locations.
• Carbon footprint – details about the carbon footprint of the product such as its estimated waste output, lifecycle, expected lifespan and usage. Energy, emissions, water, and raw materials used in the production process should be present, which shows resource consumption and the rough environmental impact of the item.
• Documentation – the warranty, service, insurance, and guarantee documentation can be stored digitally. Expiry and repurchase data also help the buyer see its product history and check any potential claims.
• Maintenance – any repairs that have happened to the product. This includes what the repairs were, where they occurred and when, the cost, and why the repairs were required.

There are some existing digital product passport examples already in use by certain manufacturers and plenty of scope for future applications. The clothing and textiles industry is adopting them, especially sustainable fashion brands. Scannable labels or QR codes on labels display information about the item’s production, carbon footprint, and care guidelines.

This helps to inform buyers looking for ethical and sustainable clothing, provides full transparency about where the item has come from, and provides maintenance information to help prolong its life. The use of DPPs is expected to grow quickly in the coming years for the clothing industry given the focus on the huge amounts of fashion waste generated annually.

A digital product passport drives transparency and accountability for everything that goes into producing an item. Potential buyers seeking sustainable products can assess and compare options with greater trust and choose the one with the lowest carbon footprint, local materials, or least energy consumption. Manufacturers can’t hide and this places more of an impetus for them to create truly sustainable products.

The design stage determines 80% of a product’s environmental impact. Highlighting the production cycle of a product with a DPP could encourage manufacturers to work towards more sustainable designs, especially if potential buyers are put off by what a DPP shows them. Insight into the materials from a DPP helps designers create more durable items.

A product passport isn’t just for buyers browsing the rails in a clothes shop. They’re useful for different people from the start to the end of a product’s life. These are the three main stages and people that use a DPP in different ways that help improve sustainability:

• Manufacturers – the growing use of DPPs means more manufacturers are applying them to items. It helps make the supply chain more transparent, assess ways they can improve design, and build trust with customers. As more customers start to expect or demand a product passport it encourages more manufacturers to develop and provide them.
• Consumers – buyers, customers, and consumers scan DPPs to see relevant information about the product to inform their purchasing decisions. This includes buying personal goods like food and clothes as well as business items such as building materials or office furniture. They also use the DPP to follow guidance around usage, maintenance, care, repairs, and waste disposal.
• Recyclers – at the end of a product’s life it must be disposed of properly to ensure circularity. The DPP should include information for consumers about how to dispose of it sustainably. This should also inform recyclers of what to do to recycle and recover the product with a breakdown of the materials and components, alongside important information that avoids waste going to landfill.

Currently, there’s no digital product passport regulation in the UK. It’s therefore up to manufacturers whether they use DPPs for their products or not. However, in the EU it’s expected that digital product legislation will be introduced after a provisional agreement between the European Parliament and the European Council.

This was for the introduction of the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). Digital product passports are a key feature of the ESPR, and the new rules will apply to all products on the EU market, regardless of whether they are produced inside or outside the EU.

Digital product regulation is anticipated to be adopted and mandated by the EU between 2026 and 2030 as part of the ESPR. It will apply to all 27 EU countries and looks to prioritise products with a high environmental impact and potential to improve. This includes textiles, furniture, chemicals, batteries, consumer electronics and devices, and construction products.