Sustainability Atlas
Circular Economy·12 min read··...

Deep dive: Digital product passports & traceability — the fastest-moving subsegments to watch

What's working, what isn't, and what's next — with the trade-offs made explicit. Focus on data quality, standards alignment, and how to avoid measurement theater.

The Digital Product Passport (DPP) market surged from $185.9 million in 2024 to an estimated $275 million in 2025, representing one of the fastest-growing segments in sustainability technology with a compound annual growth rate exceeding 45% (MarketsandMarkets, 2025). With the European Union's Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) entering into force in July 2024 and mandatory DPP requirements rolling out across batteries, textiles, and electronics by 2027, the race to build robust traceability infrastructure has intensified dramatically. Europe now commands over 36% of the global DPP market share, while Asia-Pacific emerges as the fastest-growing region as manufacturers prepare for compliance with export requirements to European markets.

Why It Matters

Digital Product Passports represent a fundamental shift in how product information flows through supply chains and reaches consumers, regulators, and recyclers. Unlike traditional product labeling, DPPs create machine-readable, lifecycle-persistent data records that accompany products from raw material extraction through end-of-life processing. This paradigm shift addresses several critical sustainability challenges simultaneously.

The circular economy imperative drives much of this momentum. Europe's recycled material consumption stands at just 11.8% as of 2023 according to the European Environment Agency, far below targets needed to meet 2050 climate neutrality goals. DPPs enable the granular material composition data that recyclers need to efficiently sort and process products, potentially unlocking billions in currently lost material value. For investors evaluating circular economy plays, DPP infrastructure represents the critical data layer without which advanced recycling and reuse business models cannot scale.

Regulatory pressure has crystallized remarkably fast. The EU Battery Regulation (2023/1542) mandates battery passports for industrial and EV batteries by February 2027, requiring documentation of lithium and cobalt sourcing, carbon footprint calculations, and recycled content percentages. Textile DPP delegated acts are expected in Q3-Q4 2025, with enforcement approximately 18 months thereafter. Electronics requirements phase through 2030. This creates a compressed window where first-movers can establish dominant market positions while laggards face potential market access barriers.

For Asia-Pacific manufacturers—particularly those in China, Japan, and South Korea supplying European markets—DPP compliance has become an existential business requirement rather than a voluntary sustainability initiative. Export-dependent electronics manufacturers face particular urgency as the EU prioritizes electronics in early implementation phases.

Key Concepts

Understanding the DPP ecosystem requires grasping several interconnected technical and regulatory concepts:

Data Architecture and Standards: DPPs must conform to interoperability standards enabling data exchange across supply chain actors. GS1 Digital Link provides the QR code and URL structure for consumer-facing access, while EPCIS (Electronic Product Code Information Services) handles business-to-business event tracking. The absence of fully harmonized global standards remains a significant friction point, with competing blockchain and centralized database architectures creating integration challenges.

Unique Product Identifiers: Each DPP requires a globally unique identifier linking physical products to their digital records. This creates opportunities for NFC tag, QR code, and RFID providers, as well as challenges around identifier persistence, counterfeit prevention, and identifier registry governance.

Multi-tier Supplier Visibility: Effective DPPs require data collection beyond Tier 1 suppliers, often extending to raw material extractors three or four tiers upstream. This "multi-tier mapping" capability differentiates advanced traceability platforms from basic product data management systems. AI-powered supplier discovery tools have emerged to automate what was previously manual, relationship-dependent information gathering.

Lifecycle Data Persistence: DPPs must remain accessible for the product lifetime plus an additional 10 years under ESPR requirements. This creates long-term data storage obligations and questions about provider continuity—what happens when a DPP platform provider goes out of business?

Differentiated Access Levels: DPP data serves multiple audiences with different access rights. Consumers see basic material and sustainability information via QR codes. Regulators access compliance documentation and audit trails. Recyclers receive detailed material composition data necessary for processing decisions. Managing these access tiers requires sophisticated identity and permissions management.

Sector-Specific KPIs for DPP Implementation

SectorPrimary KPITarget RangeSecondary KPIs
Batteries (EV/Industrial)Supply chain CO2 footprint (kg CO2e/kWh)<50 for competitive positioningRecycled cobalt %, due diligence coverage
TextilesFiber composition accuracy (%)>99% for regulatory complianceMicroplastic shedding data, water footprint
ElectronicsRepairability score7-10/10 for premium positioningRecycled plastic content, energy efficiency
ConstructionEmbodied carbon (kg CO2e/m²)<300 for low-carbon claimsMaterial passport completeness, reuse potential
AutomotiveCritical raw material traceability (%)100% for permanent magnets by Nov 2025Battery passport compliance, recycled content

What's Working and What Isn't

What's Working

Blockchain-based provenance for high-value supply chains has demonstrated genuine utility in battery materials and luxury goods. Circulor's lithium and cobalt tracking for Volvo's EV supply chain provides auditable chain-of-custody documentation that satisfies both regulatory requirements and consumer expectations. Similarly, Arianee's NFT-based ownership certificates for luxury fashion brands like Dior and Louis Vuitton enable secondary market authentication while building digital engagement with brand enthusiasts.

QR code-based consumer engagement has achieved meaningful adoption in fashion. Save The Duck deployed Certilogo-powered QR codes across their Spring/Summer 2024 collection, enabling instant access to material origin, factory information, and care instructions. Chinti and Parker implemented similar functionality in their Autumn/Winter 2024 collection. Consumer scan rates of 8-12% exceed traditional tag engagement by an order of magnitude.

Modular SaaS platforms targeting SME adoption have addressed the scalability gap that initially limited DPP implementations to large enterprises. Circularise offers tiered pricing enabling small fashion brands to implement basic DPP functionality for under €5,000 annually, with compliance scoring that helps prioritize remediation efforts.

Construction materials passports for long-lifecycle buildings show particular promise. The Edenica building in London implemented a comprehensive materials passport intended to support a 120+ year building lifecycle, documenting every significant material for future renovation and demolition decisions. This use case demonstrates DPP value beyond regulatory compliance—enabling future material recovery that current demolition practices make impossible.

What Isn't Working

Data quality at the supplier tier level remains the fundamental challenge. Most DPP implementations capture accurate data from immediate suppliers but struggle with indirect suppliers two or more tiers upstream. Self-reported supplier data lacks verification mechanisms, creating what critics describe as "measurement theater"—impressive-looking dashboards built on fundamentally unreliable inputs. Without independent verification protocols, DPPs risk becoming greenwashing enablers rather than transparency tools.

Interoperability between competing platforms has not materialized despite industry working groups and standards development. A textile brand using Circularise cannot easily share data with a retailer using SAP's DPP solution, creating data silos that undermine the ecosystem value proposition. The CIRPASS EU pilot project (concluded March 2024) identified interoperability as the critical gap requiring policy intervention.

SME onboarding costs exceed what most small suppliers can bear, particularly in developing country manufacturing clusters. A Tier 3 fabric dyer in Bangladesh faces €10,000+ implementation costs against annual margins that may not reach that level. Without financial support mechanisms or simplified compliance pathways, DPP requirements risk creating trade barriers that disadvantage the Global South.

Consumer engagement beyond initial novelty has proven difficult to sustain. After an initial scan, most consumers do not return to DPP interfaces. This limits the business case for brands investing in rich digital experiences and suggests that DPP value accrues primarily to regulators and supply chain actors rather than end consumers.

Key Players

Established Leaders

Siemens AG (Germany) launched its Battery Passport Platform in November 2024 as part of the broader Xcelerator portfolio, providing approximately 80% of required EU compliance data through IT/OT system integration. Their manufacturing infrastructure presence gives them privileged access to the production data that DPPs require.

Avery Dennison (United States) offers DPPaaS (Digital Product Passport as a Service) through their atma.io platform, ranking first in ABI Research's competitive assessment with an 80.4/100 score. Their combination of physical identification solutions (RFID, NFC tags) with cloud data management creates an integrated offering that pure software providers cannot match.

SAP SE (Germany) integrates DPP functionality within enterprise resource planning systems that already manage product data for millions of SKUs. For large enterprises with existing SAP installations, their DPP module offers the lowest friction implementation path.

iPoint-systems (Germany) specializes in lifecycle data management with particular strength in environmental compliance documentation, serving automotive and electronics manufacturers with complex regulatory obligations.

Emerging Startups

Circularise (Netherlands) provides blockchain-based DPP infrastructure specifically designed for SME adoption, with modular pricing and simplified onboarding that has driven adoption in European fashion and plastics supply chains.

Minespider (Germany) focuses on critical materials traceability, particularly battery minerals subject to due diligence requirements. Their blockchain protocol tracks provenance from mine to manufacturer.

Spherity (Germany) addresses the identity and credential verification layer that DPPs require, using decentralized identity technology to manage the complex permission structures that differentiate consumer, regulator, and business access.

Arianee (France) pioneered NFT-based product passports for luxury goods, creating digital ownership certificates that maintain value in secondary markets while enabling brand engagement throughout product lifecycles.

Key Investors & Funders

European Investment Fund (EIF) backs multiple sustainability-focused venture funds investing in DPP infrastructure. Speedinvest (Austria) deployed a €30 million continuation fund in 2025 with explicit focus on enterprise SaaS and sustainability technology. Future Energy Ventures (Germany) raised €205 million for Fund II in 2025, targeting digital solutions for energy and sustainability transitions. The CIRPASS consortium received EU Horizon Europe funding to develop DPP pilot implementations across batteries, textiles, and electronics, providing non-dilutive funding for participating technology providers.

Examples

  1. Volvo Cars and Circulor Battery Traceability: Volvo implemented Circulor's blockchain-based traceability platform to track cobalt from Congolese mines through their EV battery supply chain. The system documents chain-of-custody, verifies responsible sourcing claims, and provides the carbon footprint data required under EU Battery Regulation. This implementation demonstrated that multi-tier traceability is technically feasible at automotive scale, though it required significant supplier relationship investment to achieve participation.

  2. Ligne Roset Furniture Blockchain DPP: The French furniture manufacturer launched blockchain-based Digital Product Passports in January 2025, documenting material origins, manufacturing locations, and end-of-life recycling instructions for their product lines. This implementation targets both EU compliance preparation and consumer engagement, with QR codes enabling showroom visitors to access detailed sustainability information during purchase decisions.

  3. Edenica London Materials Passport: This commercial building project in London implemented a comprehensive materials passport documenting every significant building component with specifications, sourcing information, and material properties. Designed for a 120+ year building lifecycle, the passport enables informed renovation decisions and eventual material recovery at end-of-life—demonstrating DPP value in construction where material lock-in has historically made recycling economically unviable.

Action Checklist

  • Conduct a DPP applicability assessment identifying which products require passports under current and forthcoming EU delegated acts, prioritizing by revenue exposure and compliance timeline
  • Map your supply chain to at least Tier 3, identifying data gaps and suppliers requiring onboarding support for DPP participation
  • Evaluate DPP platform options against your existing technology stack, prioritizing interoperability with current ERP, PLM, and supply chain management systems
  • Establish data governance protocols defining ownership, quality assurance, access permissions, and long-term retention responsibilities for DPP data
  • Develop a phased implementation roadmap beginning with highest-priority product categories and expanding coverage as organizational capabilities mature
  • Engage with industry consortia and standards bodies to ensure your implementation aligns with emerging interoperability requirements

FAQ

Q: When will DPP requirements become mandatory for my products? A: Timelines vary by product category. Batteries (industrial and EV) face mandatory passport requirements by February 2027. Textiles will likely require DPPs by mid-2027 following delegated acts expected in Q3-Q4 2025. Electronics phase through 2030. Construction products and automotive components follow longer timelines. Companies selling into EU markets should monitor European Commission announcements and begin preparation at least 18-24 months before applicable deadlines.

Q: What data must a Digital Product Passport contain? A: Required data elements include: unique product identifier, manufacturer identification, material composition and sourcing documentation, carbon footprint calculations, repairability and recyclability information, compliance documentation for applicable regulations, and supply chain due diligence records. Specific requirements vary by product category as defined in delegated acts. Data must remain accessible for the product lifetime plus 10 years.

Q: How much does DPP implementation cost for a mid-sized manufacturer? A: Implementation costs vary dramatically based on supply chain complexity and existing digital infrastructure. Platform subscription fees range from €5,000-50,000 annually for SMEs to €500,000+ for enterprise implementations. However, the larger cost often lies in supplier data collection, process changes, and integration with existing systems—potentially doubling or tripling software costs. Early movers report 12-24 month implementation timelines for full supply chain coverage.

Q: Should we use blockchain-based or centralized database DPP solutions? A: Both architectures have trade-offs. Blockchain solutions offer immutability and decentralized trust—valuable when supply chain partners don't fully trust each other or when provenance claims require independent verification. Centralized solutions typically offer faster performance, lower costs, and easier integration with existing enterprise systems. Many practical implementations use hybrid approaches with blockchain for critical provenance data and conventional databases for routine product information.

Q: How do DPPs affect companies outside the European Union? A: Non-EU manufacturers exporting to European markets must comply with DPP requirements on the same timeline as EU-based competitors. This particularly affects Asia-Pacific manufacturers in electronics, textiles, and automotive supply chains. Many multinationals are implementing global DPP systems rather than EU-specific solutions, anticipating similar requirements in other jurisdictions and recognizing the operational benefits of consistent data management across markets.

Sources

Topics

digitalproductrecycled contentcontaminationtransition plandesign for disassemblytraceability

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