Background 

In the coming years, documenting and tracing products will become mandatory. The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), part of the European Union’s Green Deal, aims to transition the economy toward more sustainable practices and a circular future.  

The regulation requires nearly all products in EU markets to introduce a virtual identity for products, components, and materials. This passport will store essential data to enhance product sustainability, encourage circularity, and ensure regulatory compliance. Accessible electronically, it simplifies decision-making for consumers, manufacturers, and authorities by providing relevant sustainability and compliance information. Additionally, it enables customs authorities to automatically verify the existence and authenticity of DPPs for imported goods. 

This shift reflects a broader movement toward sustainable development, compelling manufacturers to rethink their supply chains, become more accountable and align with global sustainability goals. 

What are Digital Product Passports? 

Material passports for products are digital records that capture a wide range of attributes about a product. Specifications are still evolving, but a digital product passport typically contains the following information: 

• Product details: Manufacturer, production location, GTIN/product codes, lifespan, and material composition. 

• Material composition: The makeup of materials in a product, their origin type, and their end-of-life scenarios. 

• Embedded environmental impacts: Whole life carbon and other environmental effects. 

• Circularity attributes: Information on whether materials contain recycled or reused components and their potential for recycling or reuse at the end of life. 

Madaster product passports also stores a wide range of other information that supports the on-going use and future reuse of products such as:  

• Certificates (e.g., C2C certified, FSC) 

• Technical specifications 

• Test results (VOC, fire, etc.) 

• Cleaning and maintenance procedures 

• Disassembly instructions 

• Warranty information 

• Takeback scheme agreements 

As part of a European research project, we will further develop these features in collaboration with industry-leading manufacturers to ensure they align with the needs of our clients.  

Why Create Passports for Your Products? 

1. To Respond to Market Demand 

Product passports are gaining prominence, especially in Europe. As a result of initiatives like the BAMB project and the work of Thomas Rau, clients like EDGE and British Land are now requesting product passports for their projects. In London, tenants are even requesting passports for their fit outs. 

Product passports at the asset or project level typically include a register of the products and materials in a building, as well as any existing materials to be retained.  

Automated aggregation of product information into digital twins of buildings helps manage large volumes of data and provides environmental performance reports. This integration makes product passports at the product level essential. 

For producers, this means you may be asked to provide a product passport for your product by a contractor or installer. 

2. To Meet Legislative Requirements 

New legislation from the European Commission’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation will soon require certain products to have Digital Product Passports. 

Manufacturers must provide environmental information on their products’ lifecycle and make usage and repair instructions available in product databases. 

In addition, the UK’s Building Safety Act requires stakeholders across the supply chain to store a ‘golden thread’ of information, including more detailed data on some products used in buildings. 

For producers, this means you may soon be required to provide a digital dataset detailing the technical and environmental attributes of your products. Providing digital product passports can help streamline compliance with these regulations. 

3. To Enhance the Circularity Credentials of Your Products 

Sustainability is becoming a key factor in the specification process, driven by certification schemes like BREEAM and the growing demand for attributes like low embodied carbon. Studies show that adopting circular business models can bring financial benefits, particularly by fostering long-term customer relationships and securing supply chains. 

For producers, providing product passports in digital format helps your products retain their identity, increasing their chances of being reused and recycled during refurbishment. By including information like disassembly instructions and maintenance requirements, you enhance your products’ circularity credentials. 

Digital Product Passports also open opportunities to implement circular business models, such as offering your product as a service or establishing take-back, buy-back, or remanufacturing schemes. 

Madaster’s Digital Product Passport: Key Features and Benefits 

Our Digital Product Passports (DPPs) empower you to advance building circularity while ensuring seamless compliance. By processing data into detailed environmental performance reports, our software simplifies tracking and optimizing your building’s sustainability across all phases. 

Here’s how our DPP solution streamlines your transition to full product responsibility: 

• Comprehensive data centralization: Easily compile, store, and share product information, from material compositions to regulatory metrics. Madaster’s platform ensures your data meets EU standards. 

• Streamlined compliance: Our DPPs work with the EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) framework, making it easy to track and report on sustainability and circularity metrics for each product. 

• Enhanced transparency: Share verified data with stakeholders, including consumers, investors, and supply chain partners.  

• Full lifecycle management: Madaster supports continuous updates to a product’s lifecycle, ensuring your DPP stays relevant. Upcoming features include repairability insights, recycling guidelines, and end-of-life recommendations. 

• Proactive risk management: Our integration with the EPEA ProCA tool allows you to address risks before they become liabilities, such as non-compliance or environmental impact. 

The Future of Manufacturing Is Digital 

The shift towards product transparency is here, and Madaster’s Digital Product Passport puts your business at the forefront of this change. Whether you’re preparing for regulatory updates or aiming to foster trust through verified sustainability data, our DPP solution equips you with the tools to meet these challenges and maintain a positive reputation in the market.  

Get Started with Madaster’s DPP Today 

Madaster facilitates the transition to a circular built environment by enabling the registration, documentation, and exchange of material data. By turning materials, components, and products into valuable resources, we promote reuse and sustainable management in the built environment. 

Our platform enables manufacturers, designers, developers, and asset owners to make more informed decisions by providing a centralized, accessible, and trusted source of information. 

To learn more about Madaster, visit our platform page or explore subscription options for producers here.