Last year, we spoke with Sjoerd Rongen, Digital Product Passports Lead at TNO and associated with the CoE-DSC, about the status of Digital Product Passports (DPPs). Since then, various new developments have taken place, which is why we spoke with Sjoerd again to get an update on its status.
What are DPPs and what is already there?
Let’s start with a short recap: digital product passports (DPPs) provide organisations with detailed information about the entire lifecycle of a single product, item batch, or model. There are various benefits that DPPs can offer us, once implemented and used. Organisations could use DPPs to e.g. optimise the production process and work in a more efficient way. They could also use DPPs to adhere to specific reporting requirements, which will reduce their administrative burden. And consumers could scan a product and see where the parts come from, what its CO2 footprint is, etc.
There are not many DPPs yet, but they are already being used in certain sectors. For example, a DPP has been implemented for rubber car tyres and there is a battery passport. Sjoerd says: “The DATAPIPE project, for example, created an operational battery passport for one type of electric vehicle. Green Transport Delta – Electrification (GTD-E) is another example. TNO facilitates demos in a lab setting to show how DPPs could work technically. There are ongoing and new pilots to take this technological basis and implement it for more products.” So there are a few examples. “But,” adds Sjoerd, “not yet as many as I would like. The technology is there, but the implementation and scale aren’t yet.” What are new developments?
1. Clearer EU guidelines
Last year, the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) was introduced, which stated that products would need to have a product passport. Sjoerd says: “In April 2025, a number of product categories have been identified in the ESPR working plan. It states when policies for product passports for those product categories are to be expected. However, it’s still a bit unclear how these should be implemented. “But looking at the product categories, at least you now know when it’s your turn to be ready.”
Another publication is the European single market vision. “Organisations might think: ‘If I’m not on the working plan list, I don’t need to do anything.’ But one of the elements of the single market vision is: for every product category for which Europe updates or makes a policy in the coming years, the product passport will be included as a way of reporting. This means it will apply to many sectors.”
According to Sjoerd, EU policy is very powerful. Because, if you don’t adhere to the policy, you are not allowed to sell your product in Europe. However, this EU policy still has to be implemented at a national level, and a national market surveillance authority has to check whether a product does have a product passport. “A lot is still unclear about who is going to check that, how that will be done, and what the consequence is if there is no passport. But the above-mentioned policies give a lot of clarity that we didn’t have before.”
2. The CIRPASS2 architecture is available
Sjoerd says that a few initiatives are trying to put these policies into practice, especially at the IT level (for example what components to implement and which software interfaces are available). CEN CENELEC, the European Committee for Standardization and an association that brings together the National Standardisation Bodies of 34 European countries, will present its DPP architecture, defined in JTC24, in March 2026. But what if you want to start now? The EU project called CIRPASS2 has developed a DPP system architecture. CIRPASS-2 will demonstrate functioning DPPs in real settings through 13 pilot deployments and use cases in textiles, electrical and electronic equipment, tyres and construction value chains. It aims to show that we can comply with legislation and add value for organisations. Sjoerd says: “Stakeholders need to create various technical functionalities that organisations can use to create and implement DPPs. For example, an organisation that starts selling a product has to be able to create a product passport, publish it, provide access to the DPP, and update or deactivate it. There are lots of little functionalities like that. The CIRPASS2 architecture lists these functionalities, grouped by stakeholder, and indicate which functionalities interact with each other. This overview is the best, most state-of-the-art we have right now. It gives organisations concrete tools to get started.”
What is the idea for the future? Sjoerd: “Eventually, multiple software providers will provide functionalities, such as an IT provider that can help you publish your DPP right now. All these software tools will integrate with each other in the CIRPASS-2 architecture. There are already some providers of DPP tooling now, but not yet for all functionalities. For example, a DPP should get back-ups, however no organisation currently offers this functionality specifically in the DPP context. The next step is to identify which suppliers already exist. We do that with the CoE-DPP landscape scan. There, it will become clear where the gaps are and you can take action accordingly. Because, without awareness and alignment between various initiatives, there is little chance of achieving interoperability between sectors. We need a formal standard. But until we have one next year, a broadly accepted European architecture is second best.”
3. The CoE-DPP has been launched
Many parties are working on DPP and there isn’t a clear overview. TNO raised this issue with the Dutch government. The Ministry of Economic Affairs recognised this problem and asked TNO to create the Centre of Excellence for Digital Product Passports (CoE-DPP) which was announced last February during our Data Sharing Festival as a sister organisation of the CoE-DSC. The CoE-DPP aims to unlock the value of product passports by supporting businesses and regulators with the relevant knowledge and skills to realise scaled DPP solutions. “It makes all the developments, which are now difficult to keep track of, accessible to organisations. From policy to operation, and cross-sectorally to enable interoperability.”
Sjoerd continues: “We have a good overview of what is going on at the European level. We know the key players personally. At the national level, we also have a good overview. Parties that want to work with DPP, know where to find us. Now, we need to set up pilots, use cases and proof of concepts. I would like to have a product passport that is used in practice, so we can say: they did it and this is the added value it offers.” On October 9, we organise the DPP Festival to bring this network together and speed up more DPP developments. Register here to get to know the network, strengthen your own network, gain knowledge, and arrive at joint follow-up actions.
Collaboration is key
According to Sjoerd, the main challenge is that the best business case of DPPs is one with more organisations, where there is value for the collective as a whole. “The ROI/proposition might be clear for a single company, but it isn’t very clear yet at the ecosystem level. For example, if we can connect four different manufacturing companies, a seller and a middleman, thanks to a DPP they will become more efficient as a whole. But how to divide the costs and benefits in that chain is still a question. This slows down adoption. To overcome this, you need to discuss early on in the process what the ecosystem looks like, who will have to invest, where the benefits are, and how the pains and gains are distributed between the collaborating parties. If you don’t do this, you’ll end up with a tiny DPP implementation that will not be adopted by anyone else. Thus, working together early on is crucial to adopt DPPs.”
Sjoerd concludes: “For a long time, the situation was: DPP is coming, you’re going to have to do something with it. Now, it’s time to consider which stakeholders you can collaborate with and think about what the impact will be on your operation. Use DPP as a reason to do things right and don’t see it as an administrative hurdle to overcome. DPP is part of digitalisation and it’s going to offer a lot of benefits.”
