What is a Digital Product Passport?
What a Digital Product Passport is, how ESPR and product-specific rules fit together, and what a DPP tool can actually do.
A Digital Product Passport (DPP) is a digitally accessible set of data about a particular product. Its purpose is to make relevant product information easier to find across the value chain. What a passport means in practice depends on the product group and the rules that apply to it.
The legal framework in brief
The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ESPR), creates a framework for product-specific ecodesign requirements and DPPs. It does not automatically impose the same fields or passport on every product. Under Article 9, delegated acts for covered product groups specify matters such as data, carriers, level of detail, access rights, and availability. The applicable rule must therefore be checked for the product in question.
Article 10 describes essential DPP requirements once relevant product rules apply. These include connecting the passport through a data carrier to a persistent unique product identifier and requirements for structured, transferable data. A QR code or software publication alone does not prove compliance.
What a passport may contain
Depending on the product rule, a passport may include product identity, manufacturer details, material information, or repair and recycling information. The ESPR refers concrete data elements to applicable delegated acts. A general data schema is a working template, not a universal list of legal requirements.
A passport may distinguish access groups. Information available to the public is not necessarily the same information available to authorities or other entitled actors. Personal data about customers should not be added to a public passport without a proper basis.
What DPP Direct does — and does not do
DPP Direct provides a company workspace, structured product fields, private documents with scan status, controlled publication, version history, and QR links. These features help teams organize and share selected information. The application does not determine legal duties for a specific product or certify a passport.
A useful first step is to identify the product group, your role in the supply chain, and the relevant legal acts. Then map data sources, owners, and a suitable publication structure.
DPP, QR code and product data: what is the difference?
The passport is the data record. A QR code is one possible way to access a view of that record. Product details in the internal workspace start as drafts; uploading them does not make them public. A QR code also does not automatically contain all technical documentation.
In DPP Direct, authorised team members choose visible fields and publish a version. That version's QR link remains tied to the published record. A later update receives a new version link. Archiving releases active capacity but does not withdraw published versions: their original links remain accessible with an archive notice.
A concrete preparation example
A synthetic chair can serve as a practice record with an SKU, model number, manufacturer, materials and care information. The team assigns a source and review date to each statement. A supporting material document stays private initially; only selected product fields appear in the passport. A clean malware scan confirms file safety, not the factual correctness of the document.
Whether a passport must represent a model, batch or individual item depends on the applicable product rule. Article 9(2)(d) ESPR provides for these levels; selecting one in software does not replace that assessment. The synthetic DEMO example shows a public view, not a real customer's product or proof of compliance.
How can manufacturers, brands and importers start?
- Identify the product group, supply-chain role and applicable rules. The ESPR framework alone does not impose a general DPP obligation on every product.
- Map the product information you need to its actual sources.
- Assign owners, review evidence and separate internal information from public fields.
- Try the draft-to-publication workflow with synthetic data first.
- Use the publication checklist before sharing.
The software features explain the available tools. Pricing and capacity explain how many active published passports the plans include. Capacity is not a publication allowance that renews every month.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ESPR), especially Articles 4, 9, and 10
- European Commission: Ecodesign for Sustainable Products
Sources reviewed 26 October 2026. General information, not legal advice.
Sources and the review date are listed at the end of each article.
View the synthetic DEMO passport
