Your ESPR & DPP resource hub
Make sense of the ESPR and the Digital Product Passport, fast.
Plain-English answers, free tools, and updates you can trust on the EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation and the Digital Product Passport. We track Brussels' delegated acts so you don't have to.
Find your way through ecodesign and the Digital Product Passport.
The two firm dates
Ban on destroying unsold textiles, clothing accessories and footwear (large companies); EU DPP registry due.
Large apparel and footwear firms can no longer destroy unsold stock from this date; medium-sized firms follow ~2030 and micro/small are exempt. The Commission must also have its DPP registry running by now.
Battery Passport becomes mandatory - the first live Digital Product Passport.
Under the EU Battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, EV, light-means-of-transport and industrial batteries over 2 kWh must carry a battery passport. It is the working template for the DPPs to come under the ESPR.
These two dates are fixed in law. The dates for textiles, furniture, steel and other product groups are indicative Working-Plan estimates and arrive through delegated acts that are not yet final. See the full timeline for what is confirmed versus expected.
See the full timeline →“A customer says we need a Digital Product Passport.” Where do you start?
A retailer or a big customer just told you that you'll need a Digital Product Passport, or sent a request for “DPP-ready” product data, and you have no idea whether the rules even apply to you yet. You don't have a compliance team. You're worried you'll lose the account, or spend money on something that isn't even finalised.
Take a breath. The ESPR is a framework law: the headline regulation is in force, but the detailed rules arrive product group by product group through delegated acts, and most are not final yet. So for many companies the honest answer is “not quite yet, and here's how to get ready sensibly.” We'll help you work out whether you're in scope, when your product group's rules are expected, and what's worth doing now versus what can safely wait. No jargon, no sales pitch.
Not sure if any of this is your problem yet? Check in two minutes →
Start here
Start where you are
Four routes through the regulation, depending on what you need right now.
Free tools
Free tools, no email wall
Use them on the page. We’ll only ask for your email if you want your result or a PDF sent to you.
Why use this hub
Why use this hub
No upsell
We don’t sell Digital Product Passport software, and there’s no demo to book. That means no pressure to "request a quote" at the bottom of every answer, and an honest line on the vendors when you compare them. We just explain the rules.
Always current
The ESPR keeps moving: a Working Plan, delegated acts arriving group by group, the destruction ban phasing in, and DPP standards still being finalised. Every page carries the official sources we used and the date we last checked them, and we update when things change.
Plain English, with free tools
A scope checker, a DPP data template, a glossary and a delegated-acts timeline, written for people without a legal team. Terms are explained the first time we use them, then linked to the glossary.
The ESPR Brief
We watch Brussels' delegated acts so you don't.
The ESPR is written in instalments: rules land product group by product group, often with little warning. One email, plain English, tells you what moved, what it means for you, and what to do about it, so you can stop refreshing EUR-Lex and get back to your actual job.
- Delegated-act alerts the moment your product group moves: a new draft, an adoption, a confirmed date.
- DPP go-live dates as they firm up, from the battery passport to textiles and beyond.
- Plain-English summaries with a link to the official source, every time.
The ESPR Brief
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By the numbers
The ESPR in a few numbers
The figures worth keeping in your head. Each one is set in law or in the official Working Plan we link from the pillar page.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, the ESPR. It replaces the old Ecodesign Directive 2009/125/EC and covers nearly all physical goods.
The ESPR entered into force. It is a framework law: binding product rules follow through delegated acts adopted over time.
Priority product groups in the first Working Plan (2025-2030): textiles, furniture, mattresses, tyres, iron & steel and aluminium.
The first live Digital Product Passport: the battery passport becomes mandatory under the EU Battery Regulation.
The delegated acts for these product groups are not yet adopted, so their dates and detailed requirements remain indicative. We flag what is confirmed versus expected on every page.
Start with the basics
ESPR & DPP: the questions people ask first
Short, plain-English answers. Follow the links for the full, sourced explainers.
What is the ESPR?
The ESPR is the EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2024/1781. It is a framework law, in force since 18 July 2024, that lets the EU set binding sustainability rules — on durability, reparability, recycled content, a Digital Product Passport and more — for almost any physical product sold in the EU. It replaced the older Ecodesign Directive, and the detailed rules for each product group arrive over time through delegated acts.
What is a Digital Product Passport (DPP)?
A Digital Product Passport is a structured, machine-readable record of a product’s sustainability and circularity data, reached through a data carrier such as a QR code, GS1 DataMatrix or RFID/NFC tag. Different users — consumers, repairers, recyclers and authorities — see different parts of it. The first live DPP is the EU Battery Passport, mandatory from 18 February 2027; under the ESPR, DPPs then arrive product group by product group.
Am I in scope, and when?
The ESPR can cover nearly all physical goods placed on the EU market, including components — only a short list is exempt (food, feed, medicinal and veterinary products, living organisms, products of human origin and reproductive material). But the binding rules for your product only start once the Commission adopts a delegated act for your product group. Most of those dates are still indicative; two are firm — the battery passport (18 February 2027) and the ban on destroying unsold textiles and footwear for large firms (19 July 2026).
Stay ahead of the next delegated act.
Free, plain-English updates. We watch Brussels' delegated acts so you don't.