DPP IN 2026: EVERYTHING COMPANIES NEED TO KNOW
In 2026, the Digital Product Passport (DPP) is no longer a topic to watch from a distance. It has become one of the key tools through which the European Union is reshaping how products are documented, verified, and managed across the entire value chain. The legal basis for this transformation is Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), which entered into force on 18 July 2024.
The first point to clarify is simple: in 2026, there is still no single mandatory DPP for all products, but there is already a fully operational legal framework that allows the EU to define, sector by sector, which products will require a digital passport and what technical and informational requirements will apply. In other words, 2026 is the year in which the DPP moves from strategic vision to concrete industrial implementation.
So what is a Digital Product Passport, in practical terms? It is a structured set of data linked to a product and accessible in digital format. Its purpose is to make relevant information available on sustainability, durability, reparability, composition, circularity, and, in some cases, product compliance. This means that the DPP is not simply a QR code attached to a product. It is a new data infrastructure designed to ensure that key information is no longer scattered across technical sheets, PDFs, internal databases, and non-interoperable files, but is instead organized in a way that is more accessible, more verifiable, and more useful throughout the value chain.
In 2026, the topic is especially relevant because the European Commission has already outlined a clear initial direction. In the 2025–2030 working plan adopted under the ESPR, the EU identified the priority product groups for the coming years. These include steel and aluminium, textiles with a particular focus on apparel, furniture, tyres, and mattresses, as well as several energy-related product categories. The same plan also includes horizontal measures on reparability and further regulatory developments aimed at supporting product circularity.
That is precisely why, in 2026, the DPP is being discussed so widely across fashion, furniture, manufacturing, and industrial materials. Not because every rule has already been finalized for every category, but because companies already know that the digital passport is becoming a concrete part of future conditions for access to and continuity in the European market. The DPP is therefore emerging at the intersection of compliance, supply chain data, sustainability, and competitiveness.
A common mistake is to think that the DPP is only about environmental communication for the end consumer. In reality, its logic is much broader. The digital passport is also meant to make information exchange more efficient between economic operators, facilitate compliance checks, support repair and refurbishment, and improve the availability of reliable data throughout a product’s lifecycle. The real challenge is not just publishing information. It is building a credible system to collect it, maintain it consistently, and make it available over time.
In practical terms, when talking about DPP, companies should already be asking themselves a few key questions. What product data is already available internally, and what is still missing? In what format is it stored? Who updates it? Is it verifiable? Can it be selectively shared with clients, partners, auditors, or authorities? Is there clear data governance in place? This is where the real operational dimension of the DPP begins.
There is also one crucial point that must be stated clearly: European legislation does not mandate blockchain as the compulsory technology for DPP implementation. From a legal standpoint, the EU defines the framework, the objectives, and the essential requirements of the digital passport, but it does not require companies to implement it exclusively through blockchain. However, because the DPP requires data integrity, traceability, auditability, interoperability, and persistence, blockchain remains one of the most coherent and strategically relevant architectures for building this kind of infrastructure. That is the strongest position to take in 2026: not that “the law requires blockchain,” but that blockchain is a particularly robust technological response to the needs created by the new European regulatory framework.
The most concrete and advanced example so far is batteries. Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 introduced a specific framework for batteries and includes the battery passport for certain categories. This confirms something important: the DPP is no longer only a general regulatory direction, but a model that is already entering its first mandatory use cases. For many companies, then, 2026 is not the year to start thinking about DPP in abstract terms. It is the year to begin structuring data, processes, and governance seriously.
For this reason, the DPP should not be seen as a simple information obligation, but as a deeper transformation in the relationship between product, data, and compliance. Companies that move now have the opportunity to build a real advantage: organizing supply chain data more efficiently, preparing early for future sector-specific requirements, and turning compliance into a source of credibility and market positioning. Companies that wait risk having to catch up later, when sector rules become more concrete and more demanding.
In this context, for us at Notarify, the point is clear: the value of the DPP lies not only in making information available, but in making it reliable, verifiable, and properly governed over time. This is where technologies such as blockchain can make a real difference, providing a solid foundation to connect product digital identities, document traceability, and data integrity in an increasingly regulated environment.
If you want to understand how to prepare your company for the Digital Product Passport, how to structure product data in a credible way, and how to assess a blockchain-based implementation aligned with future European requirements, contact us at office@notarify.io.
SOURCES
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 – Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR)
- The European legal framework establishing the basis for future ecodesign requirements and the Digital Product Passport.
- European Commission – Implementing the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation
- Official Commission page on the implementation of the ESPR and the operational roadmap.
- European Commission – ESPR Working Plan 2025–2030
- Document identifying the priority product groups for the first phase of implementation.
- European Commission – Consultation on the Digital Product Passport
- Public consultation on data management, service providers, and the functioning of the DPP system.
- Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 concerning batteries and waste batteries
- European legal framework introducing the digital passport for specific battery categories.