Shoppers across the European Union will soon verify whether that “100% recycled plastic” label holds up, thanks to a new digital tracking system launching across the bloc. Battery producers face the first deadline, and many companies remain dangerously unprepared.
Digital Product Passports, or DPPs, compile verified information about a product’s materials, manufacturing origins, carbon footprint, and end-of-life disassembly and recycling instructions. The European Union’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation mandates these passports for most goods sold within member states.
The system targets a long-standing problem. For years, static certificates and one-time documents left gaps that allowed companies to make sustainability claims without proof, a practice known as greenwashing. Regulators, retailers, and consumers gain access to audited data through DPPs, making repair, resale, and recycling decisions grounded in fact rather than marketing.
Matteo Capellini, partner at Bain & Company, sees larger potential in the shift. “If we can get the data foundation right early, the payoff will be bigger than solving a compliance problem,” he said. “DPPs create product lifetime value, a metric that didn’t really exist before, since you can only track and monetize a product across resale, repair, and reuse if you can prove what it is and where it’s been.”
The passport registry went live at the end of July. Batteries become the first product category requiring DPPs as of February 2027. Textiles, electronics, and furniture follow through 2030.
Meanwhile, industry readiness lags badly. Analyses tied to CEN and CENELEC, two of Europe’s three standards organizations, suggest up to 90% of manufacturers lack preparation for DPP mandates. Tim Bodill, vice president of DPPs at Pimberly, warned that goods without a pre-registered passport will face stoppage at point of entry.
Critics point out that data alone cannot repair or recycle anything. Physical infrastructure and skilled labor remain the true bottleneck.
Europe leads as the first continent to enforce DPPs legally, but the ripple effects span the globe. Britain has no domestic DPP law yet, though exporters to the EU must comply. The United States lacks a federal mandate as well. Similar systems emerge in China, and trade regulations apply equally, creating logistical headaches for global sellers.
Resale platforms face particular strain managing passport and non-passport inventory side by side. Brands selling worldwide may end up running two versions of the same SKU, one with full passport data and one without. Sustainability claims now shift from promises to structured, audited data, one product at a time.
