Where the passport comes from
The passport is created by the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, which entered into force on 18 July 2024. The ESPR sets the framework. The detailed rules for each product group come later, in delegated acts.
Batteries follow their own law. The Batteries Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, sets a battery passport with its own date and its own list of required information.
What a passport can contain
The content depends on the product group. In general, a passport can include:
- identification of the product and of the companies behind it
- materials and composition
- environmental information, such as a carbon footprint
- repairability and durability
- performance data
- supply chain information
- instructions for reuse, recycling and end of life
A passport is one record that stays up to date, not a single PDF. When a supplier changes a material or a certificate expires, the record has to change with it.
Who reads it
Consumers, businesses, market surveillance authorities and recyclers all have a use for the data, and they do not need the same parts of it. A passport therefore has access levels: some information is public, some is for parties with a legitimate interest, and some is for authorities.
Who is responsible
The economic operator that places the product on the EU market is responsible for the passport. That is normally the manufacturer, or the importer when the product is made outside the EU. Software can structure, check and store the data, but responsibility for conformity stays with the operator.
Where the data comes from
Most of the data sits with suppliers. For many companies the hard part is not building the passport page. It is getting verified values from tier 1, tier 2 and tier 3 suppliers, each of which answers in a different format. Our guide to collecting supplier data covers that step.
Where to start
- Find out which regulation or delegated act applies to your product group, and from when.
- List the information it requires and mark what you already hold.
- Identify which suppliers hold the rest.
- Set up one place where suppliers send data, a reviewer approves it and each approval is recorded.
Starting with one product line is enough. The same structure then extends to the rest of the range.
Sources
Not legal advice. This guide explains the regulations in plain language. The regulations themselves are the authority, and responsibility for conformity stays with the economic operator.