Sheri Hinish, Founder of Supply Chain Queen®, CEO of Supply Chain Revolution Global, and host of the Supply Chain Revolution® podcast, explains what a digital product passport is, what it must contain, when EU rules make it mandatory, and why it is a supply chain operating model rather than a compliance label.
A digital product passport (DPP) is a structured, machine-readable record of a product's identity, materials, environmental footprint, and repair and end-of-life information. It travels with the product through a QR code or another data carrier, so that buyers, regulators, repairers and recyclers can read what they need when they need it. The European Union is making DPPs mandatory product group by product group, beginning with industrial and electric vehicle batteries on 18 February 2027.
I have spent the last several years helping companies build the data foundations behind sustainable supply chains, first as a Senior Partner at IBM and EY and now through Supply Chain Revolution Global. The digital product passport is the moment those foundations stop being optional.
- A digital product passport is product-level data linked to a physical item through a QR code, an NFC tag or an RFID chip.
- The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) entered into force on 18 July 2024 and sets the legal framework for passports in the EU.
- The EU DPP Registry became operational on 20 July 2026.
- Battery passports become mandatory on 18 February 2027, and textiles are expected to follow once the textiles delegated act is adopted in 2027.
- Most passport data sits two or three tiers upstream, so the real work belongs to procurement and suppliers, not only to the sustainability team.
What is a digital product passport?
A digital product passport is a product-level data record that is linked to a physical item through a data carrier such as a QR code, an NFC tag or an RFID chip. Each passport has a unique identifier, and the data behind it is held by the company that places the product on the market, usually in its own systems or with a certified service provider. The European Commission keeps a central registry of passport identifiers so that customs and market surveillance authorities can check compliance.
The legal basis in Europe is the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). ESPR sets the framework, and separate delegated acts define the exact data each product group must carry. Batteries follow the same technical system under the EU Batteries Regulation.
What information does a digital product passport contain?
The exact fields vary by product group, but most passports draw from the same five categories of information.
- Identity. The passport records the unique product identifier, model, manufacturer, economic operator and place of production.
- Composition. The passport lists the materials used, recycled content and substances of concern.
- Environmental performance. The passport carries carbon footprint and other footprint data where the delegated act requires it.
- Durability and repair. The passport explains expected lifetime, repairability, spare parts and disassembly.
- End of life. The passport gives instructions for reuse, refurbishment, recycling and safe disposal.
Access to this information is tiered. Consumers see basic information, while repairers, recyclers and authorities can see more detailed data. This design protects commercially sensitive information while still giving each party what it needs to act.
When do digital product passports become mandatory?
The rollout is phased by product group. These are the milestones that matter most as of late 2026, according to the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform and the European Commission.
- 18 July 2024: ESPR enters into force and creates the legal framework for digital product passports.
- April 2025: The Commission adopts its first ESPR working plan, which prioritizes steel, aluminium, textiles, furniture, tyres and mattresses.
- 20 July 2026: The EU DPP Registry becomes operational.
- 18 February 2027: Battery passports become mandatory for electric vehicle batteries, light means of transport batteries and industrial batteries above 2 kWh.
- 2027 onward: The textiles delegated act is expected, followed by passport requirements for other priority product groups through 2030.
Each delegated act normally gives companies a transition period of at least 18 months before the requirements apply. The window sounds generous until you map the supplier data you will need, because most of it sits two or three tiers upstream.
Why does a digital product passport matter for supply chains?
A passport turns sustainability claims into verifiable product data, and that data lives in the supply chain. The carbon footprint of a battery depends on where its cells, cathode materials and energy came from. The recycled content of a garment depends on what a spinner and a fabric mill can prove. A passport cannot be completed by the sustainability team alone, because the evidence belongs to procurement, manufacturing, logistics and suppliers.
Nobody can repair, resell or recycle what they cannot identify. The digital product passport is how a product proves what it is.
Passports also connect directly to rules that are already in force. The EU ban on destroying unsold textiles now applies to large companies, and generic claims such as "eco-friendly" are no longer allowed without proof. Companies with product-level evidence will meet these rules far more easily than companies that still report sustainability as averages.
How should companies prepare for digital product passports?
- Map your exposure. Identify which of your products fall into battery, textile, steel, aluminium, furniture or other priority groups, and note the expected dates.
- Fix product master data first. Unique identifiers, bills of materials and supplier links must be accurate before any passport platform can help.
- Bring suppliers in early. Agree on data formats, evidence standards and contract clauses now, because tier-two and tier-three data takes the longest to collect.
- Choose interoperable technology. Favor platforms that follow the harmonised standards cited under ESPR, so that your passports can be read across the value chain.
- Use AI where it removes friction. AI can extract data from supplier documents, flag gaps and estimate missing footprint values, but people must own the final evidence.
- Design for value, not only for the deadline. The same data supports resale, repair services, recycled-content claims and customer trust.
My PoV: the passport is a supply chain operating model, not a label
My PoV is that most companies are treating the digital product passport as a compliance label to attach at the end of the line. A label-first approach will be expensive and fragile. The passport is really a new operating model for product data, in which every tier of the supply chain shares verified information about what a product is made of and where it can go next.
When I led sustainability technology work at EY and IBM, the hardest problems were never the dashboards. They were the handoffs between procurement, engineering and suppliers, where data was lost, re-keyed or never captured. The companies that will lead are the ones that fix those handoffs now and treat the passport as the visible output of a trustworthy supply chain.
Compliance is the floor. A trustworthy product data model is the strategy.
For a closely related regulation that also turns sustainability into traceable data, read my guide to the EU Deforestation Regulation.
The digital product passport will soon be as ordinary as a barcode. The companies that build the data foundations now will treat it as an asset for circularity, resale and customer trust, while everyone else treats it as paperwork.
Frequently asked questions about digital product passports
What is a digital product passport?
A digital product passport (DPP) is a structured, machine-readable record of a product's identity, materials, environmental footprint, and repair and end-of-life information. It is linked to the physical product through a QR code or another data carrier.
Is a digital product passport the same as a QR code?
No, it is not. The QR code is only the data carrier that links the physical product to its passport. The passport itself is the structured data record behind the code.
Who is responsible for creating a digital product passport?
The economic operator that places the product on the EU market is responsible, which is usually the manufacturer or the importer. Suppliers provide much of the underlying data, so contracts and data-sharing agreements matter.
Do digital product passports apply to companies outside Europe?
Yes, they do. Any company that sells a covered product in the EU market must provide a passport, regardless of where it is headquartered or where the product is made.
Which products need a digital product passport first?
Batteries come first, with passports mandatory from 18 February 2027 for electric vehicle batteries, light means of transport batteries and industrial batteries above 2 kWh. Textiles, steel, aluminium, furniture, tyres and mattresses are among the next priority groups under the ESPR working plan.
Explore my advisory work on product data, traceability and circular supply chains, listen to the Supply Chain Revolution® podcast, and subscribe to Supply Chain Queen on YouTube for more explainers.
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Sheri Hinish is the Founder of Supply Chain Queen® and CEO of Supply Chain Revolution Global, a supply chain thought leadership, advisory, media, and community platform. A former Senior Partner at both EY and IBM, where she led global practices in sustainable supply chain and sustainability services, she advises Fortune 500 companies, governments, and startups on supply chain transformation, AI-enabled operations, the circular economy, and just-transition strategy. She holds advanced degrees from Harvard and Rutgers. She hosts the Supply Chain Revolution® podcast and speaks globally at COP, NY Climate Week, CES, and major industry events.