Digital Product Passports under the Eco-design for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) will change how businesses track and share product sustainability information.
There was a time, not so long ago, when the average person could buy a product, use it, and throw it away without a second thought about where it came from or where it was going. Those days are numbered. A quiet revolution is underway in how we think about the things we buy, and it goes by the rather bureaucratic name of the Digital Product Passport (DPP).
The concept is deceptively simple. Imagine scanning a QR code on a product and being able to see exactly where every material was sourced, how it was manufactured, what its carbon footprint looks like, and what you should do with it when you’re finished. Not a marketing claim. Not a vague logo on the packaging. Actual, verifiable data. That is the promise of the DPP, and it is moving from concept to law at a pace that should make every producer sit up and take notice.
The driving force is the EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), adopted in 2024 as a central pillar of the European Green Deal. If the original Ecodesign Directive was a gentle nudge towards energy efficiency, the ESPR is a full-bodied shove towards lifecycle transparency. Its scope is enormous, extending far beyond energy-related products to cover virtually all physical goods placed on the EU market. Under the ESPR, DPPs will become mandatory on a phased basis, with batteries leading the way in 2027, followed by textiles, electronics, furniture and other sectors in the years that follow.
Because the current system is, to put it politely, not fit for purpose. Modern supply chains are staggeringly complex and frequently opaque. A single smartphone can contain over 60 different elements, sourced from dozens of countries, assembled across multiple continents and sold around the world. Consumers don’t know what’s in the products they buy. Regulators struggle to verify the claims that manufacturers make. And in many cases, the brands themselves lack visibility beyond their direct suppliers. It’s a transparency black hole.
DPPs are designed to change that by creating a single, verifiable source of truth for every product. For the consumer, that means the ability to check whether a “sustainably sourced” label actually means anything. For regulators, it provides a proper enforcement mechanism that allows the auditing of recycled content claims, chemical safety declarations and carbon reporting with real data rather than good faith. And for businesses? It’s both a compliance headache and, for those willing to lean into it, a genuine competitive advantage.
We’ve talked about the circular economy for years now, but the truth is that it’s been held back by a fundamental problem: information. Without reliable product data, recyclers can’t efficiently recover materials. Repair technicians can’t identify compatible parts. Resale platforms can’t verify authenticity, condition or ownership history. The whole system runs on guesswork, and guesswork doesn’t scale.
DPPs solve this by ensuring that critical information follows a product from cradle to grave and into its next life as a recycled input. That’s the bit that really excites me. We’re not just talking about a compliance label here. We’re talking about the data infrastructure that could turbo-boost the circular economy.
It’s worth noting that whilst the EU is driving this agenda, the ripples will be felt globally. Any company selling into Europe will need to comply, which in practice means that UK businesses and exporters from every other non-EU market, need to be paying attention now. Not in 2027. Now.
The Digital Product Passport is not simply a compliance box to tick. It is a fundamental shift in the relationship between products, people and the planet, and it is coming faster than most companies expect. The runway is getting shorter, and the time to prepare for these changes is now.
The Eco-design for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) will introduce significant new requirements for product data, transparency and lifecycle performance across the EU. For many organisations, understanding how these requirements translate into practical actions such as collecting product data, conducting Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs), and implementing Digital Product Passports (DPPs) can be challenging.
Valpak works with businesses to help them understand emerging ESPR requirements and prepare for compliance. Through our regulatory expertise and partnerships with leading Digital Product Passport technology providers, we support organisations in managing product data, assessing environmental impacts, and preparing for future reporting obligations.
If you’d like to learn more about how ESPR and Digital Product Passports could affect your organisation, explore our guide to Digital Product Passports and download our ESPR brochure for further insights.
Read our overview of Digital Product Passports and ESPR compliance
Download our ESPR Digital Product Passport brochure
Director of Circular Innovation