Digitaler Produktpass – Check-In #8

-> DPP Overview

Plattform Industrie 4.0 regularly provides updates on the Digital Product Passport (DPP) through its “DPP Check-In” series. These Check-Ins summarize concrete developments on a wide range of topics and create a space for discussion, exchange, and questions. The 8th Check-In took place on February 19, 2025. This article offers a summary of the Check-In and a general overview. To receive all updates and invitations to the DPP Check-Ins, please register here.

CURRENT STATUS: DPP & ESPR

A short overview of the DPP is available in the DPP Fact Sheet (as of 07/24), and in more detail in the document “Digitaler Produktpass – Status Quo” (as of 12/23), or the first DPP Check-In. You can also find the Plattform Industrie 4.0 overview page on the DPP here.
Below is only a very brief summary of the current status – for more in-depth information, please refer to the overview page or the mentioned documents.

The Ecodesign Regulation entered into force on July 18, 2024. A work plan for 2025–2028 is expected to be published in March/April 2025. Starting in 2026, product-specific regulations will follow, developed through Delegated Acts. Once adopted, a transition period of 18 months (with few exceptions) is expected.

As of now, the following product categories are considered priority:

Iron and steel, aluminium, textiles (especially clothing and footwear), furniture (including mattresses), tyres, detergents, paints, lubricants, chemicals, energy-related products, ICT products, and other electronic devices.

Textiles as well as iron and steel will be the first product groups addressed in the Delegated Acts. The DPP is expected to come into force during 2027. Batteries (from 2027) and construction products (from 2028) will be governed by separate regulations. The European Commission plans to regularly update the list of priority products for the Delegated Acts.

The Ecodesign Regulation lists the following Ecodesign criteria. Which criteria will be mandatory for which product groups will be determined in the Delegated Acts:

Durability, reliability, reusability, upgradability, reparability, maintainability, presence of hazardous substances, energy consumption and efficiency, water use and efficiency, resource use and efficiency, recycled content, reconditioning potential, recyclability, recoverability of materials, environmental impacts (including carbon footprint and environmental footprint), and expected waste generation.

You can view the current DPP timeline here.

CIRPASS-2

In May 2024, the European flagship project for the Digital Product Passport, CIRPASS-2, was launched. CIRPASS-2 is organizing a stakeholder community and five expert groups that are open to participation. More information can be found in the report from the 6th Check-In.

A survey for SMEs has recently been launched within the project, focusing on challenges and opportunities posed by the DPP for small and medium-sized enterprises. Interested parties can participate in the survey HERE, or opt for a more detailed interview – if you’re interested in an interview, please contact Verena Halmschlager directly. The results of the surveys and interviews will be compiled into a report made available to the Commission, national governments, associations, etc., to highlight the needs of SMEs in DPP implementation. Your perspective is therefore highly valuable and will feed directly into the CIRPASS-2 project.

On the CIRPASS-2 homepage, you will also find relevant publications, such as the first consumer-focused study on the DPP. This shows that consumers have a “strong appetite” for this new innovation, with demand for use cases going far beyond the new regulatory requirements. You can also find an overview of substances of concern in ESPR and other regulations here.

Recently, the document “User Stories 3.0” was also published, and there is an opportunity to provide feedback on it.

Further Updates

General

The European Green Deal forms the basis for a number of regulations that have come into force in recent years or are planned for the near future. A good overview of these regulations is provided HERE.

A webinar on the DPP and selected DPP projects with interesting presentations was held at the end of 2024. The recording and all slides are available.

GS1 offers an online DPP demonstrator HERE, which illustrates the functionality of a Digital Product Passport.

Outside of Europe, there are also DPP-related activities: Last year, the IEEE Standards Association officially approved the project proposal for the “IEEE SA P3828 Standard for Digital Product Passport – Reference Architecture and Technical Requirements“, which is led by China. More on this HERE.

Orgalim recently released a position paper advocating for a phased DPP implementation. The first step should involve developing a minimal viable DPP system, followed by implementing identity and access management requirements to enable differentiated access to restricted data.

The closing event of the Battery Pass Project will take place on February 25, 2025, in Brussels. Online participation is also possible. You can register HERE.

A number of DPP-related projects are already underway in Austria and other countries. The FFG database offers a small insight. Here’s a selection of Austrian DPP projects: DPP4Plastics, DaToo, KIRAMET, CE-PASS, UNDERPIN, MoLIBity, DPP4E, ECO-TCO, TextileCycle. 

Preparatory Studies

There are already opportunities to participate as a stakeholder in the preparatory studies (Preparatory Studies) for the Delegated Acts on textiles as well as iron & steel from the European Commission. The homepage for Iron & Steel is available here, and the homepage for Textiles can be found here.

In addition, you can already find a selection of documents from the ongoing work in the textiles field HERE. Particularly relevant may be the new publication on information requirements.

PACE – Austrian Flagship Project for the DPP

As part of the 8th Check-In, Martin Benedikt (Virtual Vehicle Research GmbH) introduced PACE, one of the two new DPP flagship projects launched in January 2025. You can download the slides of the presentation HERE.

PACE-DPP aims to provide solution components to tackle the fundamental technological and regulatory challenges in fostering and accelerating a Digital Product Passport-based data service ecosystem. The project considers both regulatory and business perspectives.

The goals of PACE-DPP are defined as follows:

  • O1: Evidence-based development of highly relevant framework conditions and requirements to support accelerated market introduction of the Digital Product Passport.

  • O2: Future-proof demonstration of technological breakthroughs to enable a DPP-based data service ecosystem.

  • O3: Multi-dimensional improvement of the circular economy through intensive use of the Digital Product Passport.

  • O4: Integration of the value chain through a DPP-based data service ecosystem to ensure sustainable implementation of the project results.

USEFUL INFORMATION:

The next Check-In is expected to take place in March or April 2025. The Check-Ins are public and free to attend. Interested individuals can join the mailing list.

Feel free to send us your comments, additions, or feedback at verena.halmschlager@plattformindustrie40.at – we appreciate all kinds of input.