The Digital Product Passport (DPP) is the vehicle defined by the European Union regulatory framework to carry the data that the circular economy needs in order to work. If in our last article we discussed how the circular economy has become the new competitiveness standard for industry, Circular economy in industrial processes | auma, today we turn to the technological tool that will make that transformation possible.
This instrument has already become a legal mechanism that will redefine the competitiveness of industry between 2026 and 2027. The Digital Product Passport is the missing piece for moving from the theory of circularity to technical, mandatory execution across the whole value chain.
Digital Product Passport
The Digital Product Passport is a set of product-specific data made accessible by electronic means (generally through a QR code, an NFC tag or RFID technology). This passport gathers crucial information on the origin of the materials, the carbon footprint, ease of repair and end-of-life disassembly instructions.
The European Commission’s objective is to eliminate «greenwashing» and to provide consumers and waste managers with verified information. From this year on, data management will no longer be an isolated department in the factory, but will be intrinsically tied to the physical unit that comes off the assembly line.
Strategic preparation
Although many final labelling obligations will arrive in 2027, this year is shaping up as the critical year for preparing data infrastructures. During this period, industrial companies will have to:
- Digitalise the supply chain: The passport requires data that the company often does not have (for example, the exact percentage of recycled material from a tier 2 or tier 3 supplier).
- Define interoperability standards: The DPP is not a static PDF; it must be readable by different players in the chain (customs, repairers, recyclers).
- Audit the design: In order to supply the data the passport will require, many products will have to be redesigned to be more durable or recyclable, in line with the EU list of Critical Raw Materials. Ley Europea de Materias Primas Fundamentales – Comisión Europea
The horizon of mandatory compliance
2027 marks the point of no return for several strategic sectors that have been identified as «first-level impact» by European legislation:
- Batteries (18 February 2027): The battery sector is the first to have a fixed date, as provided for in Regulation (EU) 2023/1542. All industrial and electric vehicle batteries above 2 kWh will be required to carry their digital passport.
- Textiles and Footwear: Under the EU strategy for sustainable textiles, consumer products are expected to have to report on the presence of substances of concern and on the circularity of fibres by mid-2027.
- Steel and Aluminium: As high-impact intermediate products, these materials will be among the first required to declare their digitalised environmental footprint in order to be placed on the single market.
- Consumer electronics: For products such as smartphones and computers, 2027 will accelerate the obligation to report data on battery service life and the availability of spare parts.
Benefits beyond compliance
Although it may look like a bureaucratic burden, the Digital Product Passport offers real competitive advantages. First, it improves supply chain security, since it requires absolute traceability. Second, it enables new business models such as «Product-as-a-Service», where the brand retains ownership of the asset and manages its preventive maintenance thanks to the passport information.
In addition, companies that implement the Digital Product Passport early will have easier access to green public procurement and to preferential bank finance, since they will be able to demonstrate their compliance with ESG criteria using audited, transparent data.
Conclusion
The Digital Product Passport is the tool that turns sustainability into an algorithm. The transition from 2026 to 2027 is not just a change of labelling, but a change in the identity of industrial products. Companies that start integrating digital traceability into their value chain today will not only be complying with the law, they will be building the trust needed to operate in the circular market of the future.