Digital Product Passport: A Digital Catalyst for a Circular Transformation

This review explores the importance of the digital product passport as a catalyst for circular transformation. In response to the European Union’s recent regulatory efforts to enhance product transparency and circularity, the digital product passport is set to become obligatory across an increasing spectrum of product categories. By enabling access to product-related data throughout the value chain, the digital product passport offers significant potential to support the implementation of circular strategies. Although recent studies have advanced our understanding of digital product passports, this study aims to update the current status of research in the context of the manufacturing industry with particular attention to circular ecosystems. The findings show that prior research gives little attention to pre-use circular strategies and continues to emphasize the digital product passport’s regulatory scope, leaving its role in supporting circular value creation underexplored. The developed framework supports companies in adopting circular solutions enabled by the digital product passport and offers a conceptual foundation for further academic research on smart circular economy ecosystems.