A Supplier’s Guide to the EU Digital Product Passport: Ensuring Sustainable Compliance

Introduction

With the EU turning its Green Deal into action, European businesses are required to follow new sustainability regulations. 

Enter Digital Product Passports (DPPs) - a crucial requirement of the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR).

At a glance, DPPs are set in place to shine a light on a product's lifecycle and push EU companies to reduce their environmental footprint. More specifically, businesses will soon be required to provide detailed information about their products, from material sourcing to disposal.

What does this mean for suppliers navigating these new rules?

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the DPP and a step-by-step on how suppliers can comply with these new standards. 

In this article:

• What is the Digital Product Passport (DPP)?

• Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Digital Product Passport

• How Mercell supports suppliers in the DPP process

• Conclusion

 

What Is the Digital Product Passport (DPP)?

The Digital Product Passport (DPP) is part of the EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). 

Not familiar with the ESPR? It’s a new EU regulation aimed at promoting greener, more sustainable product designs, ensuring products are more durable, recyclable, and repairable.

The end goal? Sustainable products becoming the new norm across the entire EU market. 

Following the ESPR regulation comes the Digital Product Passport - an electronic record that tracks detailed information about a product’s entire lifecycle: From when it’s created, till when it will be disposed of. This includes materials used, recycling options and repairs. 

What does the implementation of the Digital Product Passport look like? 

• 2024: The DPP framework is set with the approval of the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). Companies in textiles, chemicals, furniture, batteries, construction, and electronics need to start preparing for the new requirements.

• December 2025: European organizations will release clear, standardized rules for how the DPP system should work. 

• January 2026: The delegated act for textiles will be published, with compliance required by July 2027.

• April 2026: The act for iron and steel products will follow, with compliance needed by October 2027.

• February 2027: Battery Passport regulation begins, covering all transport, industrial, and EV batteries.

• By 2027: Rules for textiles and iron/steel products take effect, requiring DPPs for all products.

Why compliance with the DPP matters

Beyond being what many companies possible view as an administrative hassle - the DPP can also offer true benefits for businesses, if done correctly: 

1. It increases the amount of trust companies have with their customers - opening the doors to more transparency about where a product comes from.

2. It supports compliance efforts with the EU’s new sustainability regulations, as part of their drive towards a greener procurement landscape. 

3. It builds better supply chain management, helping companies much more easily identify any bottlenecks, inefficiencies and/or areas for improvement.

 

A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating and Complying with the Digital Product Passport

Here are three steps to help you get started with creating and maintaining your Digital Product Passport: 

1. Start by understanding the regulatory requirements

Depending on the product category, The ESPR has outlined specific data that suppliers need to include in their DPP. And in order to ensure compliance, understanding these regulatory requirements is key. 

Here are some key elements to include in your Digital Product Passport: 

• Compliance documentation: This includes technical documents, certificates, technical documents, and/or any declarations proving that your product meets EU standards.

• Substances of concern: Information about hazardous materials for safe recycling and disposal. 

• End-of-life instructions: Direction on how to handle the product at the end of its life, including disassembly, recycling, or disposal. 

• Manufacturer and importer information: Details about any responsible parties, which can include unique facility identifiers, helping ensure both accountability and traceability.

• Unique Product Identifier (UID): This is a specific ID to track the product through its entire lifecycle.

• Global trade identification number: A globally recognized code (ISO/IEC) that identifies the product or its parts in trade.

• Commodity codes: Codes like TARIC for customs classification, often used for trade processes.

• General consumer information: Instructions for how to install, maintain, fix your product, any warning(s) and overall safety information to extend the product's life and reduce environmental impact.

2. Map and collaborate across your entire supply chain

With regulatory requirements in mind, the next step is to collect and structure all necessary data to ensure full traceability across your product's lifecycle.

What do the most important actions include?

1. Collecting lifecycle data: Gather key details on materials, sourcing, end-of-life processes and overall environmental impact. 

2. Standardizing your metrics: Make sure you report on emissions, energy use, and materials across your supply chain in a consistent manner. 

3. Preparing for digitization: This includes organizing data into a centralized, digital-friendly format (f.ex JSON, XML).

4. Ensuring traceability: Collaborate closely with your partners to boost accuracy and ensure transparency at every stage.

3. Create and continuously improve your DPP

By now, you’ve laid the foundation for your Digital Product Passport, by collecting data and laying the groundwork for greater collaboration across your supply chain. 

Next on the list is pulling everything together into a fully compliant, scalable system that grows along with your business, meaning:

1. Staying accurate and compliant: Regularly audit and update your DPP as your product evolves or regulations change.

2. Maintaining transparency: Collaborate closely with your supply chain to keep your data up-to-date and ensure full traceability.

3. Preparing to scale: Make sure your DPP system can grow as your product line expands, handling larger datasets seamlessly.

4. Increasing accessibility: RFID tags or QR codes can simplify access for consumers and stakeholders throughout the product life cycle. Which makes data retrieval both efficient and more transparent.

With your DPP ready, Mercell makes it simple to turn compliance into growth by helping you win sustainability-focused tenders. 

In the next section, learn how you can stay ahead of the competition and position your business for success in the greener public procurement landscape. 

 

How Mercell supports suppliers in the DPP process

With the DPP set in motion, for suppliers, it’s crucial to manage data transparency, traceability, and sustainability throughout the product life cycle. 

However, DPP compliance is also becoming a key requirement for securing public contracts, as many tenders will start prioritizing sustainability criteria.

With Mercell, suppliers can simplify the process of discovering and securing tenders that align with DPP requirements, through Tender Discovery and Bid Delivery:

• Tender Discovery:
  Mercell provides real-time access to public sector tenders, with a lot of them now mandating compliance with the newest sustainability standards (like the DPP). 
  With the feature of tailored tender recommendations, suppliers can quickly identify new opportunities that match their business and sustainability goals.
  In the end, making sure they’re targeting the contracts that matter the most. Mercell’s notifications and search tools allow suppliers to easily stay ahead of competitors by responding to relevant tenders as soon as they are available.
  
  

• Bid Delivery:
  Once you’ve decided to respond to a tender that requires DPP-aligned sustainability criteria, Mercell’s bid delivery tools make it easy for you to prepare and submit proposals. Here, suppliers can easily include key DPP-related data (say the product’s environmental impact, end-of-life instructions, and/or materials used when making it).
  By collaborating more seamlessly with your team, you make sure that your bids highlight your commitment to DPP compliance. In other words, increasing your chances of winning contracts that require traceability and sustainability.

 

Conclusion

As sustainability becomes a core part of public procurement, staying compliant with DPP requirements is about more than just meeting the new regulations seamlessly. 

It’s also about gaining a competitive edge. With Mercell, you gain quick access to the right tenders and can deliver top-tier bids that truly demonstrate how you comply with the standards laid out by the DPP.

In the end, helping you grow your business in a greener procurement landscape.