Thomas L. Rödding –

3 days in China

and a major step toward a global Digital Product Passport.

Over the past three days in China, I witnessed something remarkable:
the Digital Product Passport is moving closer to true global alignment.

Global trade urgently needs seamless digital communication, simplified processes for businesses and authorities, and – most importantly – reliable, machine-readable data flows across borders and organizations.

AI & DPP:

🔐 Market access is becoming a data problem — and Hashtag#Digital Hashtag#Product Hashtag#Passports sit right in the middle.


A pattern that’s getting clearer each week:
𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 is 𝗻𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀 are on the market. It’s being 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱.


What’s driving this shift:

1️⃣ 𝗗𝗣𝗣𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 “𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳” 
Regulators don’t just want declarations — they 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱, 𝗺𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲-𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 tie...

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗨 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗣𝗣?

The Digital Product Passport (DPP) has its origins in the EU Ecodesign Regulation (ESPR). Its goal is clear: to strengthen the circular economy and create fair competition conditions in the European single market.

Products are to become more transparent, with clear information on materials, reparability, energy efficiency, and recyclability.

But is the DPP really just a tool for transparent sustainability?
In short: no..