Digital Product Passport

Why organizations need a Digital Product Passport – and why decentralized credentials are the key?

Imagine unwrapping your favorite bar of chocolate. You scan a QR code on the packaging, and instantly, a secure digital passport of the chocolate appears on your phone. It tells you where the cocoa beans were harvested, the farm’s sustainability practices, the carbon footprint of production, and even how to recycle the wrapper properly. Now, imagine buying a new smartphone or an electric vehicle and having the same transparency - knowing where each component came from, whether ethical labor practices were followed, and receiving verified repair and recycling instructions.

This is the power of a Digital Product Passport (DPP) - a digital record that accompanies a product throughout its lifecycle. As regulations tighten and consumers demand more transparency, organizations need to rethink how they manage and share product information.

T-Systems’ approach, leveraging decentralized credentials based on Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) and digital wallets, offers a future-proof, secure, and interoperable solution.

Creating and exchanging Digital Product Passports at scale requires a strong technical and governance backbone. Data ecosystems like Catena-X provide a stable foundation for developing these solutions, ensuring data sovereignty, traceability, and compliance with EU regulations.

Chocolate bar with a story

Take a look at any chocolate bar –
are you curious about its origins, where it was made, and how it affected the planet?

The Digital Product Passport of the chocolate, would tell you that:

The cocoa beans were sourced from a Rainforest Alliance-certified farm in Ghana.
The production process reduced carbon emissions by 20% compared to industry standards.
The packaging is 100% recyclable, with clear disposal steps.
The company adheres to fair trade principles, ensuring ethical labor practices.

With this information, you can have peace of mind, knowing you’re supporting a sustainable and ethical brand – while enjoying your chocolate.

Car battery - more than a black box

Now, consider John, who’s buying an electric vehicle. Instead of relying on generic sustainability claims, he checks the car battery’s Digital Product Passport and discovers:

Verified information about the materials: The lithium, cobalt, and nickel used in the battery are responsibly sourced with clear traceability.
Repairability and reuse score: The battery modules can be replaced individually, and diagnostics help extend their life.
Performance and lifespan data: The passport shows real-time insights into charging cycles, expected range, and degradation trends.
End-of-life and recycling options: When the battery reaches the end of its useful life, it can be returned for certified recycling or second-life applications—possibly with a take-back incentive.

For John, this kind of transparency gives him the confidence that his purchase is both sustainable and worth the investment.

Battery passports will be mandatory for all new EVs from February 2027—marking just the beginning of broader Digital Product Passport (DPP) requirements across industries like textiles, electronics, tires, and construction. Catena-X enables this shift by providing standardized DPP frameworks, partner access, and interoperable data exchange—making large-scale, cross-industry data collaboration possible beyond just batteries.

Key advantages of a Digital Product Passport

Enhanced security & privacy
Decentralized credentials eliminate the need for central repositories, reducing risks of data breaches - access only for authorized parties.
Interoperability
Using open standards, such as Verifiable Credentials, ensures seamless data exchange across industries and regulatory areas.
Trust and authenticity
Verifiable Credentials make it easy to prove product authenticity, reducing fraud and counterfeiting.
Consumer empowerment
Users can access verified product information, and make informed decisions about purchases, repairs, and recycling.
Regulatory compliance
Builds trust with consumers by providing verifiable and transparent product information.
Easy to use
Intuitive User Interface allows previewing, sharing and validating digital product passports from you fingertips.

Enhanced security & privacy

Decentralized credentials eliminate the need for central repositories, reducing risks of data breaches - access only for authorized parties.

Interoperability

Using open standards, such as Verifiable Credentials, ensures seamless data exchange across industries and regulatory areas.

Trust and authenticity

Verifiable Credentials make it easy to prove product authenticity, reducing fraud and counterfeiting.

Consumer empowerment

Users can access verified product information, and make informed decisions about purchases, repairs, and recycling.

Regulatory compliance

Builds trust with consumers by providing verifiable and transparent product information.

Easy to use

Intuitive User Interface allows previewing, sharing and validating digital product passports from you fingertips.

Your product’s story, one scan away

Seamlessly connect products with their story—boost transparency, sustainability, and customer trust.

Instant Access – Scan to discover product details, materials, and origin

Trust & Transparency – Build consumer trust with verified sustainability data

Circular Economy Ready – Support recycling, resale, and responsible disposal

Regulation Compliant – Stay ahead of the curve with EU Digital Product Passport standards

Eco-Conscious Shopping – Empowers buyers to make informed and responsible choices

Future-Proof Your Brand – Enhance value, traceability, and digital engagement

Instant Access – Scan to discover product details, materials, and origin

Trust & Transparency – Build consumer trust with verified sustainability data

Circular Economy Ready – Support recycling, resale, and responsible disposal

Regulation Compliant – Stay ahead of the curve with EU Digital Product Passport standards

Eco-Conscious Shopping – Empowers buyers to make informed and responsible choices

Future-Proof Your Brand – Enhance value, traceability, and digital engagement

Why stop at one application?

Develop and deploy your own Digital Product Passport application, and more like it, within T-Systems Build & Operate environment

Managed infrastructure

Rely on T-Systems as a trusted pioneer in IDSA and Gaia-X-compliant dataspace technologies. Our cloud-agnostic platform lets you build and scale effortlessly—while we handle the complexity in the background.

Always aligned with the latest standards

Build & Operate is continuously updated to reflect evolving requirements. Stay fully compliant and future-ready without manual effort or vendor lock-in.

Preconfigured operation toolkit

Our operation toolkit provides all the tools that are necessary to get started with your own dataspace, like Kubeapps or Grafana. With a user-friendly UI the dataspace can be managed easily and enables a jump start in the developing of applications.

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Build your applications in just 3 days with our managed dataspace

Build & Operate is designed to eliminate technical barriers and provide a fast, intuitive way to develop and scale your applications within trusted, data-driven ecosystems. Our fully managed environment allows you to focus on use cases and innovation—without the complexity of dataspace infrastructure. Spin up your own dataspace to interact, govern, and collaborate securely with ecosystem partners. Develop AI-powered services, build data chains, and enforce custom governance policies—all while retaining full control over your data.

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Any questions?

You can contact us online – simply fill out the contact form. One of our experts will contact you as soon as possible – by email or telephone, however you like.