ESPR Explained: The EU Regulation That Will Change How You Make and Sell Products
By February 2027, every industrial and EV battery sold in the EU must carry a Digital Product Passport. By 2028, textiles, iron, steel, and furniture follow. A UK manufacturer exporting aluminium housings to Germany without a compliant DPP risks market withdrawal: not a fine, not a warning, but a product pulled from sale.
Yet the regulation has been in force since July 2024, and for many manufacturers the practical work of building DPP data has not kept pace with the law. If your preparation has not started, you are not alone, and the gap between law and readiness is where the pain will land.
The EU's Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, known as ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781), replaces the old Ecodesign Directive that only covered energy-related products. It extends mandatory sustainability and data requirements to virtually every physical product sold in the EU. Its centrepiece is the Digital Product Passport: a machine-readable identity that every regulated product must carry.
This guide covers what ESPR requires, which products are affected first, what a DPP must contain, and, critically, where most compliance approaches go wrong.
What Is ESPR?
Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, was adopted on 13 June 2024 and entered into force on 18 July 2024. It creates a framework for setting mandatory ecodesign requirements across almost all product categories sold in the EU single market.
The old Ecodesign Directive (2009/125/EC) focused narrowly on energy efficiency for products like washing machines, boilers, and light bulbs. ESPR blows the doors open. It covers:
- Durability and reliability: how long a product lasts
- Repairability: can customers and independent repairers fix it?
- Recyclability and recycled content: what happens at end of life?
- Carbon and environmental footprint: the full lifecycle impact
- Hazardous substances: what's in the product and why it matters for recycling
- Resource and energy efficiency: less waste at every stage
The regulation doesn't set specific requirements by itself. Instead, it empowers the European Commission to adopt delegated acts: product-specific rules that define exactly what manufacturers must do for each category. Think of ESPR as the legal engine, and delegated acts as the fuel.
Which Products Are Covered?
Almost everything. ESPR's scope extends to any physical product placed on the EU market, with limited exceptions (food, feed, medicinal products, and a few others).
The Commission published its 2025 to 2030 Working Plan identifying priority product groups that will get delegated acts first. The years below are indicative working-plan timelines; the legally binding date for each group is fixed only when its delegated act is adopted:
Priority Products and Timeline
| Product Category | Indicative Delegated Act Target | Indicative Enforcement |
|---|---|---|
| Textiles and apparel | 2026 to 2027 | 2027 |
| Iron and steel | 2026 | 2027 |
| Aluminium | 2027 | 2028 |
| Tyres | 2027 | 2027 |
| Furniture | 2027 to 2028 | 2028 |
| Mattresses | 2028 to 2029 | 2029 |
Electronics, ICT equipment, and household appliances (previously covered under the old Ecodesign Directive) are expected to receive updated requirements under ESPR later this decade.
Batteries are handled under the separate Battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, not under ESPR (ESPR excludes products already covered by the Battery Regulation). Battery passports become mandatory for LMT, industrial (over 2 kWh), and EV batteries from 18 February 2027.
Construction products are addressed primarily through the separate Construction Products Regulation, which is being revised to include its own digital-passport-style requirements, with timelines still under development.
A mid-term review is planned to add deadlines for industries not yet covered.
The message is clear: if you make physical products for the EU market, compliance requirements are coming. For most manufacturers, the question is not if but when.
The Digital Product Passport: ESPR's Centrepiece
The most transformative element of ESPR is the Digital Product Passport (DPP). Every regulated product must carry a machine-readable data record linked to a physical data carrier, typically a QR code, NFC chip, or RFID tag, on the product itself or its packaging.
The DPP is not a marketing gimmick. It's a legal requirement that creates a permanent, accessible digital identity for every product.
What Data Must a DPP Contain?
The baseline data fields required across all product categories include:
- Unique product identifier: at item, batch, or model level depending on the category
- Manufacturer identity: name, contact details, registered address
- Importer identity: including EORI number for non-EU manufacturers
- Country of origin / manufacture
- Material composition: full list of substances and recycled content
- Hazardous substance declarations: linked to the REACH candidate list
- Carbon footprint: lifecycle environmental impact metrics
- Energy efficiency: class or rating where applicable
- Durability indicators: expected lifespan, warranty terms
- Repairability score: spare parts availability, repair instructions
- Recyclability data: what proportion can be recycled at end of life
- Disassembly instructions: how to take the product apart for recycling
- DPP maintenance party: who is legally responsible for keeping the data current
- Date of last update: DPPs are living documents, not static labels
Each product category will add sector-specific fields. Textiles are expected to require fibre composition, dyeing chemical declarations, and microplastic shedding data, a complex landscape we've outlined in our DPP guide for fashion and apparel. Batteries must include state of health, charging cycle history, and raw material provenance.
Who Can Access DPP Data?
ESPR mandates tiered access. Different stakeholders see different data:
- Consumers: material composition, repairability, care instructions, environmental impact
- Independent repairers: repair manuals, spare parts catalogues, diagnostic information
- Recyclers: disassembly instructions, material composition, hazardous substances
- Market surveillance authorities: full data access including conformity documentation
- Customs authorities: verification data for border control
This isn't just regulatory compliance. It's the foundation for a genuinely circular economy where every actor in the product lifecycle has the information they need.
The EU Central DPP Registry
The Commission is building a central registry for Digital Product Passports. All DPP records are expected to be stored in or linked to this registry, creating a single source of truth for product data across the EU.
DPP data must use open, interoperable formats, avoiding vendor lock-in. GS1 Digital Link is emerging as a standard for linking product identifiers (GTINs) to their DPP records via QR codes.
Who Must Comply?
ESPR applies to all economic operators placing regulated products on the EU market, regardless of where the product is manufactured.
Manufacturers (EU and non-EU)
Manufacturers bear the heaviest obligations:
- Design products to meet ecodesign performance requirements
- Create and maintain the Digital Product Passport
- Conduct conformity assessment
- Prepare the EU Declaration of Conformity
- Apply CE marking
- Maintain a backup copy of the DPP
Non-EU manufacturers selling into the EU must comply through their authorised representative or importer.
Importers
Importers must verify that the manufacturer has completed conformity assessment before placing products on the market. They're responsible for ensuring the DPP exists and is accessible for every imported product.
Distributors
Distributors, including retailers, wholesalers, and fulfilment services, must verify that required markings and DPP documentation are complete before selling. If non-compliance is discovered, they must halt sales and notify authorities.
Critical rule: Importers or distributors who sell products under their own brand name, or who modify a product in ways that affect compliance, are treated as manufacturers and bear full manufacturer obligations.
The Ban on Destroying Unsold Goods
One of ESPR's boldest provisions is a direct prohibition on destroying unsold consumer products.
From 19 July 2026, Article 25 of the ESPR prohibits the destruction of unsold consumer products listed in Annex VII, which includes textiles and footwear. The prohibition does not apply to micro enterprises, and medium enterprises have a longer transition period. Companies must publish annual disclosures including the number and weight of discarded unsold goods, reasons for disposal, and what proportion went to reuse, recycling, or destruction.
In early 2026, the Commission adopted implementing rules standardising the reporting format for these disclosures. The era of quietly shredding last season's stock is over.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
ESPR requires Member States to establish national penalty frameworks. Penalties must be effective, proportionate, and dissuasive, calibrated to:
- The nature, gravity, and duration of the infringement
- Economic benefits gained through non-compliance
- Environmental damage caused
Minimum penalty types include financial fines and time-limited exclusion from public procurement. Member States can add administrative fines, market withdrawal orders, product bans, and revocation of CE marking.
ESPR's expanded scope, combined with the political priority of sustainability, suggests enforcement will be taken seriously across the single market.
Enforcement sits with Market Surveillance Authorities in each Member State, backed by customs authorities at EU borders and Commission oversight through the ESPR Forum.
How ESPR Connects to Other EU Regulations
ESPR doesn't exist in isolation. It's the legislative backbone of the EU's Circular Economy Action Plan, which connects to concrete product identity implementation, and it ties into several other major regulations:
- Battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1542: a separate instrument from ESPR (ESPR excludes products covered by it). Its battery passport is the same DPP concept applied to batteries.
- EU Textile Strategy: ESPR provides the legal framework for textile sustainability requirements, including Extended Producer Responsibility fee modulation.
- REACH: Hazardous substance declarations in the DPP link directly to REACH's candidate list of Substances of Very High Concern.
- WEEE Directive: ESPR addresses product design upstream; WEEE handles end-of-life collection and recycling downstream.
- Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD): DPP data can feed into corporate sustainability disclosures.
For manufacturers, this means compliance is not a single checkbox. It's a connected set of obligations that flow through the entire product lifecycle.
Choosing a DPP Approach
The Digital Product Passport market is growing fast, and manufacturers face a spread of options with different trade-offs. It helps to think about them in terms of what each one optimises for.
The compliance-only trap. Some tools treat the DPP as a regulatory checkbox: a data repository for auditors and authorities. They store material composition and generate compliant records. What they may not do is make the DPP useful to the person who actually scans the QR code, namely your customer.
The enterprise-only problem. Some platforms offer sophisticated connected product experiences, but they are engineered for large brands with substantial implementation budgets and long rollouts. A mid-market furniture manufacturer doesn't need a multi-quarter enterprise programme. It needs a DPP that works soon.
The ERP extension question. Some manufacturers assume their existing ERP will handle DPP. ERP modules tend to focus on data storage and reporting rather than consumer-facing experiences. The DPP QR code on your product needs to serve customers, repairers, and recyclers, not just your compliance team.
The customer touchpoint approach. Treating the DPP as a customer engagement channel means combining compliance data with setup guides, warranty registration, and aftersales services. The regulation requires a QR code on every product. That code will be scanned. The question is whether your customer finds a wall of regulatory data or an experience worth returning to, which can also support spare parts revenue over time.
What Should Manufacturers Do Now?
ESPR is in force. The framework law is final. While most product-specific delegated acts are still in development, waiting until they're published means you'll be scrambling.
Immediate Actions
- Audit your product data: Do you know the material composition, recycled content, and carbon footprint of every product? Many manufacturers don't. Start closing the gaps.
- Map your supply chain: DPPs require data from upstream suppliers. Build the relationships and data pipelines now. Our DPP readiness checklist breaks this down step by step.
- Evaluate DPP infrastructure: You'll need a system that generates, stores, and serves Digital Product Passports at scale. QR codes on every product. Machine-readable data behind every code.
- Track delegated act development: Monitor the Commission's progress on your product categories. The EU Green Forum publishes updates.
Medium-Term
- Implement product-level serialisation: Some categories will require item-level (not just batch-level) DPPs. Your production line needs to support unique identifiers.
- Redesign for repairability: Repairability scores will be public. If your product scores poorly, consumers and regulators will notice. Furniture manufacturers should start now: DPP requirements for furniture are arriving in 2028.
- Build consumer-facing experiences: The DPP QR code is the first time most consumers will interact with regulatory product data. Make that experience useful, not just compliant.
How BrandedMark Helps
BrandedMark is a post-purchase operating system that treats the DPP as the starting point of a customer relationship, not just a compliance deliverable.
- DPP plus product registration in one scan: the same QR code that satisfies ESPR also captures the owner, creates the warranty record, and opens a direct channel to your customer
- Tiered access built in: consumers see setup guides and warranty status; repairers get spare parts and service manuals; authorities get full compliance data
- Ownership transfer: when the product changes hands, the DPP record can follow via passkey-based authentication, keeping your data current across the product's full lifecycle
Most DPP tools focus on compliance alone. BrandedMark aims to close the post-purchase relationship gap as well, so the QR code becomes a channel rather than just a label.
ESPR compliance deadlines are approaching. Contact BrandedMark to see how a Digital Product Passport platform can prepare your products for the new era of European regulation.