1. What a digital product passport is

A digital product passport, or DPP, is a digital record containing information about a product, component or material throughout its lifecycle.

Depending on the product and its applicable requirements, this information can include:

• product identity and origin
• materials and components
• environmental characteristics
• repair and maintenance information
• safety and compliance information
• instructions for reuse, recycling or disposal
• information about actors and events in the supply chain

A DPP connects a physical product to trusted digital information. This connection might use a data carrier such as a QR code, barcode or another identification technology.

However, a DPP is more than a label or a QR code. It is part of a wider system for creating, managing, sharing and accessing product information.

Digital product passports are gaining attention as governments and industries seek to improve product traceability, support circular economy objectives and make reliable product information available across supply chains.

2. Who uses digital product passports

Digital product passports can involve many different organizations across a product’s lifecycle, including:

• manufacturers and component suppliers
• importers, distributors and retailers
• software and data service providers
• repair, reuse and remanufacturing organizations
• recyclers and waste-management operators
• regulators and market-surveillance authorities
• customers and consumers
• industry associations and standards bodies

Each participant may need different information.

A manufacturer may need to record product composition and technical characteristics. A repair organization may need access to maintenance information. A recycler may need information about materials and safe disassembly. A regulator may need to verify whether a product meets applicable requirements.

DPP systems therefore need to provide the right information to the right user while protecting confidential, personal or commercially sensitive data.

3. How digital product passports work

A DPP system links a physical product with information that can be accessed and exchanged digitally.

A typical DPP journey can include:

1. A product, component or material is uniquely identified.
2. A data carrier connects the physical item to its digital record.
3. Information is supplied by authorized organizations.
4. The information is stored or accessed through connected data systems.
5. Access rights determine who can view or update different information.
6. Data is exchanged between organizations and systems.
7. The record is maintained as the product moves through its lifecycle.

For this process to work across industries, countries and technology platforms, the participating systems need common rules.

Organizations need to understand information in the same way, recognize product identifiers, exchange data in compatible formats and determine whether information comes from a trusted source.

This is where International Standards play an important role.

4. Why standards matter for digital product passports

Organizations can build individual DPP systems, but those systems will have limited value if they cannot exchange and interpret information consistently.

Standards can provide common approaches for:

Product identification

Products, components and materials need to be identified consistently so that the correct digital record can be connected to the correct physical item.

Data carriers

A DPP may be accessed through a QR code, barcode, radio-frequency identification technology or another type of data carrier. Common approaches help systems recognize and use these technologies reliably.

Terminology and data meaning

Organizations need common definitions, classifications and data models. Without them, two systems may use the same term to mean different things—or different terms to describe the same information.

Data exchange and interoperability

DPP information may move between manufacturers, suppliers, retailers, regulators, repairers and recyclers using different software systems. Standards can support common formats, interfaces and exchange methods.

Traceability

A DPP may need to connect products with materials, components, organizations, locations and events across the lifecycle.

Data quality and trust

Users need to know where information came from, whether it has been changed and whether the organization providing it is authorized to do so.

Access and permissions

Not all DPP information will necessarily be public. Standards can support different access rights for consumers, business partners, regulators and other authorized users.

Information security and privacy

DPP systems need to protect information against unauthorized access, manipulation, loss and misuse.

Lifecycle and sustainability information

Common approaches are needed to describe information relating to durability, repairability, materials, environmental impacts, reuse, recycling and other product characteristics.

Standards help make DPP information consistent, trusted and usable across organizational and national boundaries.

5. International standards for digital product passports

Digital product passports draw on standards from several technical fields.

Existing International Standards already support areas that may be used within DPP systems, including:

• automatic identification and data-capture technologies
• information security and privacy
• data management and exchange
• industrial data
• product classification
• traceability
• lifecycle assessment
• environmental information
• circular economy
• Internet of Things and digital twins

These standards provide important building blocks, but a consistent DPP ecosystem also requires a common framework connecting the different technologies, sectors and participants.

ISO and IEC have established ISO/IEC JTC 5, Digital Product Passport, to develop standards supporting the deployment of digital product passports across sectors and systems.

Its work focuses on the common foundations of the DPP system and ecosystem, including interoperability and the flow of information through supply chains. Sector-specific requirements can continue to be addressed by the relevant ISO and IEC technical committees.

The first project under development is ISO/AWI 25534-1, Digital product passport — Part 1: Overview and fundamental principles.

The project is intended to establish:

• common DPP terminology
• fundamental principles
• categories of DPP data
• approaches to governance and trust
• relationships with existing standards
• a foundation for consistent implementation across sectors and regions

Explore ISO/IEC JTC 5.

6. Digital product passports and regulation

Digital product passports are increasingly being introduced as part of regulatory and industry initiatives.

In the European Union, the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation establishes a framework under which DPP requirements can be introduced for specific product groups. The precise information and requirements will depend on the rules adopted for each product group.

Other countries, sectors and organizations may develop different DPP requirements or voluntary approaches.

This makes international interoperability particularly important.

Products and supply chains cross national boundaries. A DPP designed only for one regulatory system, sector or technology platform may be difficult to use elsewhere.

International Standards can help organizations meet different requirements using compatible foundations, while allowing regulators and sectors to determine the information relevant to their own needs.

Standards do not replace regulation. They can provide practical, internationally agreed methods that support implementation.

7. Digital product passports in different sectors

The information included in a DPP will vary according to the product and its intended uses.

Batteries

Battery information may cover composition, performance, carbon footprint, responsible sourcing, maintenance, reuse and recycling.

Textiles

Textile information may include fibres and materials, manufacturing processes, care instructions, durability, repair, reuse and recycling.

Electronics

Electronic-product information may include components, substances, repair information, software support, energy performance and end-of-life treatment.

Construction products

Construction DPPs may connect product information with buildings and other assets over long lifecycles. Information may need to remain available for maintenance, renovation, reuse and material recovery.

Industrial products

Industrial DPPs may support technical documentation, maintenance, spare parts, supply-chain traceability and asset management.

Although sector requirements differ, the underlying systems still need compatible methods for identification, data exchange, access, security and trust.

8. Practical first steps for organizations

Organizations can begin preparing for digital product passports before every technical or regulatory detail has been finalized.

Useful first steps include:

• identifying which products may be affected
• following applicable regulatory and sector developments
• mapping the product information already held by the organization
• identifying information held by suppliers and other business partners
• reviewing how products, components and materials are identified
• understanding which systems create, store and exchange product data
• checking the quality and consistency of existing information
• defining responsibility for maintaining product information
• identifying confidential, personal or commercially sensitive data
• reviewing cybersecurity and access-control requirements
• following relevant standards under development
• involving technical, legal, sustainability and supply-chain teams

Organizations should avoid treating a DPP solely as a labelling project.

Preparing for DPPs may require coordination across product design, procurement, manufacturing, IT, sustainability, compliance, sales, repair and end-of-life activities.