The "Blockchain-Enabled Digital Product Passports for Circular Supply Chains" paper takes a closer look at how Digital Product Passports are moving from a policy concept into a core component of the EU’s regulatory and industrial architecture. Developed in collaboration with Fraunhofer IML, the paper examines how, as Digital Product Passports are embedded across frameworks such as ESPR, the Battery Regulation and CBAM, they are increasingly becoming the data layer through which sustainability, compliance and product lifecycle information is captured and shared across value chains.

A central theme of the paper is that DPPs only deliver real value when supported by the right infrastructure. Blockchain can provide a shared and tamper-resistant data layer across multiple actors, enabling traceability, interoperability and trusted data exchange without relying on centralised intermediaries. At the same time, the analysis highlights that questions around standardisation, data verification and cross-regulatory alignment will be critical in determining whether DPPs scale effectively across the European economy. 

What makes this collaboration particularly valuable is the grounding in practice. Drawing on Fraunhofer IML’s work across projects such as ForestGuard, SKALA and H2-Trust, the paper explores how DPP systems are already being implemented in areas like deforestation-free supply chains, ESG compliance and hydrogen value chains, while also identifying the operational and regulatory frictions that still need to be addressed.

For the industry, this is as much about strategy as it is about compliance. For policymakers, it raises important considerations around how to design a coherent and interoperable data framework that avoids fragmentation and supports Europe’s broader competitiveness objectives.

 

We encourage stakeholders across both policy and industry to engage with the paper and share their perspectives as this discussion continues to evolve.