Essential Digital Skills for Digital Product Passports’ Stakeholders under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation

Digital Product Passports (DPPs) as a fundamental component of the Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 on eco-design (ESPR), appear as essential tools for fostering circularity and social responsibility across product lifecycles, contributing to the development of a sustainable and transparent global economy. Despite extensive literature on the technical development and sector-specific applications of DPPs, limited attention has been devoted to their human dimension – specifically, the digital skills and competences required for DPP stakeholders to manage and interpret complex product lifecycle data effectively. On the basis of a literature review, the present analysis applies the EU Digital Competence Framework on four categories of DPP stakeholders (manufacturers, repairers, recyclers, and consumers) and examines how cultivating digital competences can mitigate challenges in DPP implementation and maximise their impact. It concludes that digital skills such as Information and Data Literacy, as well as Communication and Collaboration, can play a determinative role in the successful adoption and deployment of DPPs.