Products sold within the EU area will soon require a digital product passport (EU Digital Product Passport). This necessitates that information relating to the product's sustainability is properly in place. Going forward, details related to calculating products' carbon footprints, for example, must be presented transparently. It is time to prepare for this change.

The European Union and all countries that have ratified the Paris Agreement aim to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. As part of this goal, the EU has launched a project for digital product passports, which according to the latest assessments, will become mandatory during the years 2026–2027.

Product manufacturers, regardless of the company's home country, must make the information required by the product passport available to consumers and other stakeholders for the product's entire lifecycle, if the product is sold in the EU area. Retailers will need to consider how the product passport can be used to support consumer purchasing decisions and how it can be made available to consumers both in physical stores and online.

In the first phase, product passports will be required from manufacturers in the following industries:

• Batteries

• Cars

• Electronics

• Chemicals

• Plastics

• Construction

• Textiles

The EU intends to require digital product passports for over 30 product categories that have the most significant environmental impacts. Thus, the regulation will apply to almost all products sold within the EU area – only food, feed, and medicines are excluded from the regulation.

What information does the digital product passport include?

The product passport is industry-specific, and the required information partly depends on the industry. The definition work for the product passport is still underway in the EU, but it will likely include the following types of information:

• Product Information
  Basic information about the product, such as brand, model, batch number, manufacturing date, and warranty information.

• Material Information
  The origin of raw materials and components, as well as information on suppliers, manufacturers, and partners involved in the entire production chain.

• Ownership Information
  Details of the current and previous owners of the product and trading history.

• Repair Information
  Information on how the product can be repaired, as well as when, why, and how previous repairs were made.

• Sustainability Information
  Details on the product's carbon footprint considering the entire manufacturing process, and instructions for disposal when the product's lifecycle has reached its end.

For instance, the Swedish clothing brand Asket provides detailed sustainability information about their products on their online store's product pages.

Benefits of the Digital Product Passport for Consumers:

• Increased transparency and easier purchase decisions

• Supporting responsible companies

• Facilitating recycling

Benefits of the Digital Product Passport for Manufacturers:

• Increased consumer trust and improved brand image

• Easier sharing and increased efficiency of product information

• Better traceability of products and increased transparency of the supply chain

How to Prepare for the Digital Product Passport?

Product manufacturers face a major task of ensuring the information required for the digital product passport is available for their products. It is high time to start planning and testing how and where to produce this information. It is also crucial to ensure that existing systems allow for the storage and distribution of product passport information to consumers and other stakeholders.

The scale of change and development required is significant, but it does not need to be tackled alone, as all other product manufacturers are in the same situation. The best practices are currently being tackled by organizations like GS1 specializing in product codes and information, along with numerous other companies involved with product information.

Product manufacturers with a modern and flexible Product Information Management system (PIM) are better prepared for the change than those whose product information management is still in its early stages.

Also, see Sitra's report:

Digital Product Passports: Catalysing Europe’s sustainable growth
"Key lessons from Finnish pilots to support the development of circular economy business models"

Need help with product information management? Want to hear more about the impact of the EU's digital product passport on your business? Get in touch!