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What Does the New Ecodesign Working Plan Mean for Companies?
On April 16th, 2025, the European Commission adopted its 2025–2030 Working Plan under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and the Energy Labelling Regulation. This ambitious plan aims to accelerate the shift towards a circular economy by setting stricter requirements for product sustainability across the EU.
At the core of the plan? Stricter ecodesign and energy labelling requirements, along with the widespread rollout of Digital Product Passports (DPPs) to boost transparency and traceability.
What is the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation?
The ESPR was adopted in July 2024, and is a cornerstone of the EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan that expands the late Ecodesign Directive’s scope to most product categories. It introduces new performance and information-related requirements to improve the environmental and energy performance of products placed on the EU market.
The regulation introduces new requirements aimed at making products more sustainable. These include:
- Increased durability, repairability, and reusability
- Improved energy and resource efficiency
- Mandatory use of recycled content
- Transparency around carbon and environmental footprints
- Facilitation of remanufacturing and recycling
In short, it’s about making products that last longer, use fewer resources, and are easier to reuse or recycle—while giving customers better information to make sustainable choices.
Priority Sectors for 2025–2030
The working plan prioritizes sectors and products with the greatest potential for circularity and emissions reduction. These include: steel and aluminium, textiles (especially apparel), furniture, tyres, and mattresses.
Requirements for these products will address both product performance (e.g., durability, recycled content) and product information (e.g., footprint, reparability, sustainability data). Much of this information will be shared via Digital Product Passports.
The plan also takes into account the needs of SMEs, offering tailored support for micro-enterprises and small mid-cap firms. I find this very interesting, because as Juan Miguel Perez recently pointed out in a blog post, true progress comes from empowering rather than simply demanding—and that’s why Finboot has incorporated an ESG Rating & Benchmarking system for SMEs into our offering.
Digital Product Passport (DPP): Enabling Traceability & Compliance
I’ve mentioned at the beginning that a central pillar of the ESPR is the Digital Product Passport. This is because all regulated products will be required to have one, and by July 2026, the Commission will establish a secure registry and a publicly accessible portal for DPPs.
A DPP is designed to enhance sustainable production, extend product lifetimes, support informed consumer choices, and enable the circular economy transition. It also helps authorities verify compliance more effectively. Much like a travel passport documents a journey, the DPP tracks a product’s entire lifecycle — from raw material extraction to production, usage, and end-of-life recycling.
As detailed in Monetizing the Circular Economy: Unlocking Revenue Streams with Digital Product Passports, a DPP contains structured, machine-readable data about a product’s full journey. The information is accessed via a unique identifier linked to a physical data carrier (QR code, RFID, barcode) present on the product, its packaging, or accompanying documentation.
What Data Must Be Included in these DPPs?
To make Digital Product Passports a truly powerful tool for sustainability, the European Commission has outlined a clear list of data requirements that must be included. These are essential, as products will only be able to be sold if they include a valid DPP.
Every DPP must contain:
- Product identification: Unique product identifier, model/type/version, manufacturer and country of origin
- Material composition: List of materials, presence of critical raw materials, substances of concern
- Carbon and environmental footprint: Carbon footprint over lifecycle, energy consumption, water use, environmental impact scores (LCA-based)
- Recycled content and recyclability: % of recycled materials used, design for disassembly, end-of-life recyclability indicators
- Repairability and durability: Repairability score, availability of spare parts, expected product lifetime, warranty/guarantee terms
- Usage and maintenance instructions: User manuals, maintenance best practices, safety precautions
- End-of-life information: Disposal and recycling instructions, collection schemes
- Certifications and compliance: Conformity with EU regulations, third-party certifications
- Digital access and interoperability: Format using open standards, machine-readable, QR code linkage
DPP Implementation timeline by sector
The ESPR applies to all physical goods placed on the market or put into service. However, to avoid confusions, here’s the full list of sectors that will be impacted by the implementation of Digital Product Passports under the regulation, grouped by the expected timeline:
By 2026, requirements will apply to iron and steel, household dishwashers, washing machines and washer-dryers, professional laundry appliances, and professional dishwashers.
In 2027, the scope will expand to include textiles and apparel, tyres, aluminium, and horizontal measures addressing product repairability.
By 2028, furniture, EV chargers, electric motors and drives, household refrigerating appliances, and refrigerating appliances for commercial sales will also come under the regulation.
In 2029, the focus will shift to mattresses, horizontal measures on recycled content and recyclability, and light sources and control gears.
By 2030, welding equipment, mobile phones and tablets, local space heaters, tumble dryers, and requirements related to standby and off mode functionality will be enforced.
Several additional product categories are currently under assessment and are likely to be included before 2030. These include detergents, paints, lubricants, chemicals, and footwear.
Creating DPPs with MARCO Track & Trace
Finboot’s MARCO Track & Trace platform provides an end-to-end solution for building and sharing digital product passports. With its blockchain-powered infrastructure, businesses can create secure, verifiable records of product data, enabling trusted collaboration across the value chain.
Key Features:
- Effortless DPP generation and management, ensuring smooth tracking across multiple batches and customer orders.
- Seamlessly distribution of DPPs, giving stakeholders quick and reliable access to key information on sustainability and composition.
- Control what information is visible to whom; the content of the DPPs can be customized to include only the most relevant information.
- Customised options, allowing to tailor the information and presentation to meet the specific needs of their operations & stakeholders.
In addition to supporting ESPR compliance, MARCO Track & Trace integrates with other key regulations such as CBAM and EUDR, ensuring cross-jurisdictional traceability and regulatory readiness.
Get ahead of regulation and be ready to easily create, configure, and share DPPs with your direct clients, brand owners, regulators, and consumers. With deployment in as little as 8 to 12 weeks, MARCO Track & Trace helps your business stay ahead of regulatory demands while building trust with consumers and partners
Are you ready to secure a competitive advantage and grow your market share? Contact us here or book a meeting directly with Noslen Suárez (Account Manager at Finboot) here.
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