CIRPASS is the name of two EU-funded projects that help turn the Digital Product Passport from a legal idea into working systems. The first CIRPASS project brought together industry, researchers and standards bodies to agree what a passport is and how it should work. It ended in March 2024.
The second project, CIRPASS-2, puts those ideas into practice. It runs real pilots with companies in four value chains, from May 2024 to April 2027, and feeds the results back to the European Commission and to the people writing the rules and standards.
What the first CIRPASS project did
CIRPASS was a coordination and support action under the Commission's Digital Europe Programme. It prepared the ground for the passports required by the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). Its main goals were to:
- give a clear, cross-sector definition and description of the Digital Product Passport;
- define a cross-sector product data model useful for the circular economy;
- clarify the requirements for product identification, including the unique product identifier;
- propose an open data exchange approach based on current digital technologies;
- build agreement on key circularity data and vocabularies for batteries, electronics and textiles;
- write use cases and roadmaps for piloting and deploying passports.
Its reports are public and remain a useful reference alongside the CEN-CENELEC DPP standards, which now set the technical rules for passports.
What CIRPASS-2 is doing now
CIRPASS-2 is an innovation action, also funded by the Digital Europe Programme and led by CEA-List, the digital research institute of France's CEA. It aims to deploy and validate passports at scale and in real-life settings through 13 lighthouse pilots in four value chains:
- Textiles, one of the top priorities of the ESPR working plan.
- Electrical and electronic equipment.
- Tyres, also on the ESPR priority list.
- Construction materials.
The pilots show how passports work in real settings, from linking a product through its data carrier to its passport, to sharing data with repairers, recyclers and other users along the value chain. The project also builds a wider community of passport stakeholders in Europe and beyond.
The battery passport was developed in parallel by other initiatives, such as the Battery Pass consortium in Germany, because batteries follow their own regulation and timeline.
What it means for your products
CIRPASS does not create legal obligations. What it does is show how passports are likely to work in your sector before the delegated act for your product group is adopted.
- Textile and electronics brands can learn from pilots in their own value chain: which data is hard to collect, how suppliers respond and how consumers use the QR code.
- Construction and tyre producers get an early view of passports in product groups where the rules are still being written.
- Every brand can reuse the project's lessons on identifiers, data models and open data exchange, alongside formats already used in practice, such as the UN Transparency Protocol and the Asset Administration Shell.
How to use CIRPASS results
- Read the CIRPASS final results and the CIRPASS-2 pilot reports for your sector.
- Compare the data the pilots collect with what you hold today, and note the gaps.
- Start supplier conversations early. Material and substance data is usually the slowest part of any pilot.
- Choose identifiers and QR codes that follow the published DPP standards, so your passports work when your product group's rules apply.
How Veribl helps
Veribl turns the passport model CIRPASS helped shape into everyday work: each product is checked against the EU rules that apply to it, with a readiness checklist of missing fields. Suppliers fill in materials, substances and certificates through a portal, and every passport gets a GS1 Digital Link QR code and free hosting that stays online for at least 10 years.
See Digital Product Passports in VeriblOfficial sources
Frequently asked questions
What did the CIRPASS project produce?
CIRPASS set out a cross-sector definition and description of the Digital Product Passport, worked on a common product data model, clarified requirements for product identification, proposed an open data exchange approach and developed use cases and roadmaps for passports in electronics, batteries and textiles. The project ended in March 2024.
What is the difference between CIRPASS and CIRPASS-2?
CIRPASS was a preparatory coordination project that defined concepts and roadmaps. CIRPASS-2 is an innovation action that deploys and validates passports at scale in 13 real-world pilots across textiles, electrical and electronic equipment, tyres and construction materials, from May 2024 to April 2027.
Is CIRPASS a legal requirement?
No. CIRPASS and CIRPASS-2 are research and pilot projects funded by the European Commission. Legal passport requirements come from the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, its delegated acts, and the Battery Regulation, with technical detail in the CEN-CENELEC DPP standards.
Can my company join CIRPASS-2?
The pilots are run by the project consortium, but CIRPASS-2 also builds a wider community of DPP stakeholders through events, publications and webinars. Brands can follow the pilots in their sector to see how passports work in practice before their own product group's rules apply.
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