Transparency. Circularity. Supply Chain Visibility. Perhaps these are key terms that you work with every day. As the world moves toward a circular economy, where product components and the products themselves rotate from production, to use, to refurbish, to re-use, to recycling, there is a need to keep track of where your products are in commerce, what is in your products, and how they are handled. One tool that has been created to solve this need is the Digital Product Passport.
Understanding Digital Product Passports
3E Digital Product Passports (3E DPP) simplify reporting workflows and enable secure, efficient data sharing among authorized parties. Each product passport serves as a comprehensive digital record containing key product information, including compliance status, sustainability metrics, certifications, ingredient details, and more. Supply chain participants can create a passport with ease: enter the data once and share it with selected partners, who can instantly download the information they need.
With the growing desire for the circular economy, there are certain regulations that will require EU Digital Product Passports to be used in select industries in the European Union starting in just 1 year (2026). Thus, having a robust collection of 3E Digital Product Passports not only helps you now but it will position you for success in the future. 3E DPPs have developed in parallel with EU regulations and continue to evolve, assisting in compliance with EU regulations.
The Role of 3E DPPs in the Circular Economy
Effective Digital Product Passports rely upon information from your suppliers, including where suppliers manufacture the components that go into your product, what chemicals they use, and what additives (if any) they use. This is important not only for transparency, but also for compliance with regulatory reporting obligations.
Companies often use questionnaires to get relevant answers from suppliers. However, with disjointed requests for data and disparate documentation systems, supplier fatigue rises and responses may not come as quickly or as comprehensively as you would like. 3E streamlines the process not only of requesting and receiving supplier surveys but also documenting product information automatically in 3E Digital Product Passports.
The 3E DPP is designed for ease of use, including automatic updates based on approved supplier responses, customizable permissions levels to protect proprietary data, and direct linking capabilities for sharing data throughout the supply chain.
Enhancing Supply Chain Transparency with 3E Exchange
3E’s supply chain and sustainability platform is designed to streamline product data sharing through an integrated system that links regulatory content with supply chain management, moving your compliance strategy from reactive to proactive.
Through 3E Exchange, you can automate your supply chain outreach to save time communicating with your suppliers so that you can:
- More easily and quickly answer customer inquiries
- Screen product ingredients against lists of regulated chemicals
- Search chemical hazards by Chemical Abstract Service (CAS), European Community number (EC), or substance name
- View any relevant 3E Digital Product Passports.
Benefits of Digital Product Passports
3E Digital Product Passports are the best vehicle for streamlined reporting in the supply chain. 3E Exchange helps facilitate DPPs management contributing to your success as an actor within the circular economy. 3E Exchange helps you track the journey of your products via DPPs and manage compliance by automating workflows and mitigating hazards.
How 3E Exchange Facilitates Compliance
In early 2025, the Digital Product Passport library within 3E Exchange will include over 1 MILLION 3E Digital Product Passports. This growth in the number of DPPs is a direct result of the increased connection between the Exchange platform’s capabilities and 3E’s extensive Safety Data Sheet and chemical databases.
In essence, 3E Exchange is not a stand-alone product, but rather one that benefits from data included in other 3E products. With such an extensive library of DPPs, 3E Exchange reduces the burden on companies like yours and their suppliers to collect data ad hoc by providing a broad library of data to pull from to confirm compliance. 3E Exchange saves time and effort by producing customer-ready communications so that you may answer customer questions more quickly.
3E Exchange provides a scalable resource that helps you with visibility throughout your supply chain and the ability to evolve alongside the pace of new regulatory requirements.
For more information on transparency in your supply chain and DPPs, please see our eBook: Transparency in your supply chain: Best practices, supply chain challenges, and the use of 3E Digital Product Passports
