On 19th June, RecAL teamed up with DATA4CIRC project to host our latest webinar: “Insights into Digital Product Passports & EU Innovation.” With over 150 attendees tuning in, the message was clear: Digital Product Passports (DPPs) are no longer just a distant regulatory concept; they are becoming a commercial reality.
While much of the early conversation around DPPs has centered on the incoming Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), our panel of experts gathered to answer a more pressing question for industry: Beyond compliance, what is the actual business case for adopting this technology?
What is a DPP?
At its core, a DPP is a digital record linked to a physical product. It brings critical data such as materials used, product origin, compliance details, and sustainability metrics into one accessible (digital) place, following the product from manufacturing through its entire life cycle of use, repair, and recycling.
Evi Moutsipai from EuroCommerce kicked off the session with a keynote on the evolving legislative landscape. She highlighted that while the ESPR is a major driver, the upcoming European Product Act will likely expand DPP requirements well beyond sustainability, encompassing broader compliance and consumer information. However, Evi emphasized that the business case is already visible: DPPs enable dynamic digital labeling, simplify cross-border packaging updates, and foster deeper brand interactions with consumers.
Prof. Michael Heiss from Siemens provided a compelling engineering perspective. For him, the DPP is a vehicle for “democratizing digital twins.” By utilizing frameworks like the Asset Administration Shell, companies can seamlessly provide a digital twin alongside their physical products.
“I’m convinced that in some years, you will not be able to sell a product if you don’t provide the digital twin of the product to it,” Prof. Heiss noted. He highlighted that providing this data streamlines factory onboarding, drastically improves maintenance workflows, and ultimately reduces the total cost of ownership for B2B customers.
“I’m convinced that in some years, you will not be able to sell a product if you don’t provide the digital twin of the product to it”
Data Sovereignty in the RecAL Dataspace
Representing the RecAL project, Ivan Mayorov from CANCOM addressed the critical issue of data sovereignty. In the aluminum recycling sector, achieving circularity requires massive data exchange across the value chain. However, companies are usually hesitant to hand over sensitive data to centralized third-party platforms – and understandably so.
The solution, however, lies in decentralized networks, just like the RecAL Dataspace. As Ivan explained, this infrastructure allows stakeholders to “remain at full control of their data, where the data is stored, how the access policies work,” while still matching supply and demand for aluminum scrap. This approach not only boosts recycling resilience but also saves massive amounts of energy, producing recycled aluminum uses 95% less energy than raw material extraction. All of that while maintaining full control for data owners.
Erika Menosso from the Electrolux Group (representing the PSS-PASS project) shifted the focus to the consumer and operational phase. She argued that the true value of DPPs unlocks when we move from broad product-level data to serial-number-level granularity.
By tracking individual events like repairs, maintenance, or software updates, manufacturers can introduce new “servitization” models. This detailed lifecycle tracking supports second-hand markets and premium maintenance programs, proving that the business case extends far beyond the point of initial sale.
“It is a step forward in order to smaller the gap between the knowledge that the big companies… have, and the knowledge that SMEs have”
Advantages for SMEs?
Finally, Dr. Iakovos Yakoumis of MONOLITHOS Ltd showed how DPPs are a game-changer for innovative SMEs. In the business of recycling critical and strategic materials like platinum group metals, knowing the origin of a component is crucial to avoiding the black market and ensuring ethical sourcing.
Furthermore, standardizing data through DPPs levels the playing field. “It is a step forward in order to smaller the gap between the knowledge that the big companies… have, and the knowledge that SMEs have,” Dr. Yakoumis explained. It grants smaller players access to critical lifecycle and LCA data that they wouldn’t have the resources to generate alone.
Opening the floor to the audience, the concluding Q&A session revealed several of the remaining practical hurdles on the path to DPP deployment. When asked if companies would still invest in DPPs without the ESPR mandate , the panel agreed that while the business value exists, regulation is the undeniable catalyst driving widespread adoption. One major obstacle remains data architecture. Both Michael Heiss and Ivan Mayorov stressed the importance that companies “do their homework” by dismantling internal data silos before implementing advanced solutions or AI. Attempting to deploy DPPs without the correct structured, unified data model could lead to increased costs and complex API tangles.
The discussion went deeper into the legal complexities of data ownership and marketplace responsibilities, with Evi Moutsipai clarifying that while manufacturers are primarily liable for the accuracy of a DPP , this becomes complex when third parties then alter a product and its data. Crucially, for online marketplaces, the absence of a valid DPP will render a product legally non-compliant, meaning it cannot be listed or sold. The panel concluded that as these regulations crystallize, a phased rollout will be essential to accommodate supply chains that are currently at vastly different levels of digital maturity.
If there was one overarching takeaway from the session, it is that waiting for regulators to finalize every single detail is a missed opportunity. Building the architecture for data sharing today will not only ensure compliance tomorrow but also unlock immediate benefits in efficiency, circularity, and competitive advantage…not to mention the double dividend of circular economy’s positive climate impacts.
Tristan Bath (RTDS Group)
