A Digital Product Passport (DPP) is being discussed as a core instrument for building a circular economy, itself a key enabler of climate neutrality. Although there is not yet a standardised, cross-sectoral and cross-company product passport system, there are already individual solutions for collecting information for certain product groups.
A DPP needs to be made available digitally for all stakeholders in order to increase transparency throughout the entire product lifecycle.
This paper answers the following questions:
Why are politicians pushing for a DPP in connection with the circular economy?
What is a DPP?
What already exists?
What does a DPP need?
How ready are companies for a DPP? How can a DPP be delivered?
Municipalities are seeking to reduce waste generation and increase recycling rates in order to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Materials that evade recycling are typically landfilled or incinerated.
This study compares cost effectiveness between sorting of mixed waste leftover after separate collection (leftover mixed waste sorting) and the capture of CO2 from incinerator flue gas for underground storage (carbon capture and storage, CCS).
It has found that the most cost-effective way of delivering system-wide reductions in CO2 emissions is the sorting system. The least cost-effective means to reduce CO2 is CCS. Combining the two would achieve the greatest overall reduction and reduce the average cost of reduction to around half the cost of achieving reduction through CCS alone.
Since 2019, Circle Economy Foundation's Circularity Gap Reports have been providing analysis and theory on the global state of circularity. According to the Circularity Gap Report 2024, the circular economy is becoming more popular but failing to deliver.
The 2024 report lays out a roadmap for ambitious change to unlock capital, roll out bold policies and close the skills gap.
The circular economy is now extremely well known: the volume of discussions, debates and articles on it has almost tripled over the past five years. Unfortunately, the rate of global circularity is falling. The share of secondary materials consumed by the global economy actually decreased from 9.1% in 2018 to 7.2% in 2023 - a 21% drop in five years.
Please note: personal data must be given to download the report.
For the EU’s Green Deal to be effective, it is critical to target the root cause of the triple environmental crises of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss: excessive extraction, production, manufacturing and consumption of material resources.
This excess is not evenly distributed in the world: as highlighted in the report, the EU consumes more than its fair share – levels that are almost double the estimated sustainable consumption levels.
Addressing material resource consumption by establishing an EU Material Resources Law will be critical to meet the fourfold objectives set out in the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) and stay within planetary boundaries. The EU will not achieve its climate change targets without making progress on resource consumption.
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission has just published a report on construction & demolition waste (CDW) which confirms that the circular economy is crucial for reaching climate neutrality by 2050:
- construction & demolition waste accounts for almost 40% of all waste generated in the EU - the new JRC study estimates the potential for recycling and preparing for re-use of CDW to be roughly 83% - realising this potential would lead to an additional 33 Mt CO2e savings annually (equivalent to the combined annual emissions of e.g. Estonia, Latvia and Luxembourg).
The European Commission is taking important legislative and non-legislative steps to ensure CDW is managed in an environmentally sound manner and contributes to the circular economy.
This UNEP report outlines what each stakeholder group can do individually and collectively to reach the shared destination of a circular textile sector.
The Foundation aims to accelerate the transition to the circular economy, drawing on an international team of experts based in Amsterdam who flag up practical and scalable solutions to put the circular economy into action. The ultimate goal is to see global circularity double by 2032.
The Impact Report focuses on the Circularity Gap Reporting Initiative, thanks to which Circle Economy Foundation - over the years - has tracked global circularity and highlighted replicable case studies in its Circularity Gap Reports covering countries from Austria to Latin America and the Caribbean. The Initiative continues to bring together global, multi-sector stakeholders from academia, business, government and the
The Circularity Gap Report Munich is the first study measuring the Circularity Gap of a city. It assesses the city’s material consumption, material cycling, consumption-based carbon footprint and other indicators. It uses a consumption-based carbon accounting approach for emissions from goods and services consumed by residents of a locality. On average, each Munich resident consumes 32 tonnes of virgin materials annually.
The study acknowledges the successes of Munich’s circular economy strategy with initiatives like investment in public transport, community gardens and remanufacturing activities, but calls for bolder action to accelerate the circular transition
This catalogue aims to provide waste management experts and decision makers in the Mediterranean region with an overview of successful practices, solutions and approaches in waste separation, collection, treatment and recycling in the Mediterranean.
It examines five projects spanning this region and covering issues such as employing a circular economy approach for the organic fraction of municipal solid waste management. It also highlights the lessons that should be considered when replicating successes and avoiding pitfalls.
This International Labour Organization (ILO) report analyses the impact of the transition to low-carbon and resource-efficient economies, providing new insights into likely occupational skill effects in declining and growing industries by 2030 based on the global scenarios of "energy sustainability" and "circular economy". Evidence of good practices collected demonstrates how skills development can underpin the green transition.
