Toward Circular Electromobility: Integrating Digital Product Passports into EV Battery Disassembly Processes

The dismantling of electric vehicle batteries (EVBs) remains a fragmented and inefficient process due to limited data availability, lack of standardization, and minimal use of digital tools. Despite increasing regulatory and industrial interest in battery traceability and circularity, existing efforts rarely integrate end-of-life logistics data into decision-making frameworks. This study explores the integration of Digital Product Passports (DPPs) into electric vehicle battery (EVB) dismantling processes as a means to enhance transparency, efficiency, and circularity. The research addresses a specific gap in current smart disassembly systems by proposing a framework that connects technical and environmental data—from transport and storage to diagnostics—into a unified, interoperable DPP system. Using a process modeling approach (AS IS vs. TO BE), the study identifies data gaps in current dismantling operations and proposes a DPP-enhanced framework incorporating both technical and environmental parameters—such as state of health, transport conditions, and storage impacts. The results demonstrate how DPPs can support more accurate, automated, and sustainable decisions across the EV battery value chain. The paper contributes a conceptual architecture and illustrative scenario that show how real-time DPP data could be linked to robotic disassembly processes, serving as a foundation for future experimental validation and pilot testing. The findings lay the groundwork for implementing interoperable, real-time data systems aligned with EU circular economy policies.