Digital Product Passport in support of Data-Driven End-of-Use Strategies–a systems design perspective

The EU has proposed the Digital Product Passport (DPP) as an important mechanism to enable the circular economy (CE) by facilitating transparency and data sharing across value chains. Initially proposed for regulatory compliance, DPPs hold the potential to function as strategic assets for creating value within CE. However, leveraging DPPs beyond compliance introduces additional complexity, requiring a systems approach for design and implementation, which links the system's purpose with concrete design options. With this paper, we develop five fundamental design considerations that can guide the design of DPP systems, using a combination of structured literature review and conceptual development based on principles of systems engineering. The five design considerations are: strategic alignment between DPP and organizational goals, data requirements to support decision making, system requirements to ensure interoperability, tailoring DPP to different circular practices, and levers necessary to enable value chain collaboration. The proposed design considerations give structured guidance for the systems design of DPPs, tailoring the design to the needs and opportunities of the organization and ensure benefit capture.