IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v228y2026ics1364032125012730.html

Bridging digital and green transitions: A literature review of digital product passport systems

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, Zhongjuan
  • Gu, Jiaming
  • Li, Rong
  • Lian, Wenting
  • Ma, Chendi
  • Tian, Juan

Abstract

This literature review systematically examines the technical architecture and enabling digital technologies of Digital Product Passport (DPP) systems, drawing on an analysis of 186 publications to map the current research landscape across key sectors such as construction, batteries, and textiles. The study identifies blockchain as a foundational technology for ensuring data immutability and decentralized consensus, while Building Information Modeling (BIM) provides structured material data in construction applications. Semantic interoperability is achieved through ontology frameworks and knowledge graphs, which enables cross-domain data integration, and Digital Twins combined with IoT support real-time product monitoring and dynamic lifecycle management. The review further highlights the role of Asset Administration Shells (AAS) in standardizing product data models and data carriers such as QR codes and RFID in linking physical items to digital identities. A multi-tiered DPP architecture integrating blockchain notarization, layered data permissions, and zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) is proposed to balance transparency with confidentiality, alongside federated data exchange mechanisms and semantic mapping techniques to address heterogeneous data sources. The findings underscore that scalable DPP implementation hinges on interoperable data standards, modular ontology design, and secure decentralized infrastructure. This study provides critical managerial insights for businesses in adopting cost-effective DPP solutions, informs policymakers on developing harmonized standards and phased regulatory approaches, and advances the theoretical framework for DPPs by integrating fragmented technological perspectives into a cohesive architecture that bridges digital innovation with circular economy objectives.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Zhongjuan & Gu, Jiaming & Li, Rong & Lian, Wenting & Ma, Chendi & Tian, Juan, 2026. "Bridging digital and green transitions: A literature review of digital product passport systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:228:y:2026:i:c:s1364032125012730
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2025.116600
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032125012730
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2025.116600?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ivett-Greta Zsak & Adrian Horațiu Pescaru & Lucia-Daniela Manea, 2025. "Beyond Energy Efficiency: Integrating Health, Building Pathology, and Community Through the Building Identity Passport for Prefabricated Housing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-40, September.
    2. Gabriela Barbosa & Manuela Almeida, 2025. "Strategies for Implementing and Scaling Renovation Passports: A Systematic Review of EU Energy Renovation Policies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-28, March.
    3. Maximilian Kühn & Michael Baumann & Friedrich Volz & Ljiljana Stojanovic, 2025. "Digital Product Passport Design Supporting the Circular Economy Based on the Asset Administration Shell," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-24, January.
    4. Ferrante, M. & Vitti, M. & Sassanelli, C., 2025. "The evolution of circular economy performance assessment: A systematic literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    5. Luigi Panza & Giulia Bruno & Franco Lombardi, 2023. "Integrating Absolute Sustainability and Social Sustainability in the Digital Product Passport to Promote Industry 5.0," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-20, August.
    6. Marta Maria Sesana & Mathieu Rivallain & Graziano Salvalai, 2020. "Overview of the Available Knowledge for the Data Model Definition of a Building Renovation Passport for Non-Residential Buildings: The ALDREN Project Experience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-17, January.
    7. Jeganathan, Kishokanth & Szymkowiak, Andrzej, 2025. "Bridging Digital Product Passports and in-store experiences: How augmented reality enhances decision comfort and reuse intentions," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    8. Catarina Carvalho & Carla Joana Silva & Maria José Abreu, 2025. "Circular Economy: Literature Review on the Implementation of the Digital Product Passport (DPP) in the Textile Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-28, February.
    9. Miguel Afonso Sellitto & Domingos Rafael Ferla Valladares & Erica Pastore & Arianna Alfieri, 2022. "Comparing Competitive Priorities of Slow Fashion and Fast Fashion Operations of Large Retailers in an Emerging Economy," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 23(1), pages 1-19, March.
    10. Naseri, F. & Gil, S. & Barbu, C. & Cetkin, E. & Yarimca, G. & Jensen, A.C. & Larsen, P.G. & Gomes, C., 2023. "Digital twin of electric vehicle battery systems: Comprehensive review of the use cases, requirements, and platforms," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    11. Min Ji Kim & Cheol Hyeon Han & Kyung Jin Park & Ji Sung Moon & Jumyung Um, 2025. "A Blockchain-Based Digital Product Passport System Providing a Federated Learning Environment for Collaboration Between Recycling Centers and Manufacturers to Enable Recycling Automation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-25, March.
    12. Jansen, Maike & Gerstenberger, Bastian & Bitter-Krahe, Jan & Berg, Holger & Sebestyén, János & Schneider, Jonas, 2022. "Current approaches to the digital product passport for a circular economy: An overview of projects and initiatives," Wuppertal Papers 198, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy.
    13. Florian Pohlmeyer & Christian Möbitz & Thomas Gries, 2024. "A Sovereign and Interoperable Data Ecosystem for an Eco-Efficient Nonwovens Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-23, December.
    14. Rembrandt H. E. M. Koppelaar & Sreenivaasa Pamidi & Enikő Hajósi & Lucia Herreras & Pascal Leroy & Ha-Young Jung & Amba Concheso & Radha Daniel & Fernando B. Francisco & Cristina Parrado & Siro Dell’A, 2023. "A Digital Product Passport for Critical Raw Materials Reuse and Recycling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-21, January.
    15. Leng, Jiewu & Ruan, Guolei & Jiang, Pingyu & Xu, Kailin & Liu, Qiang & Zhou, Xueliang & Liu, Chao, 2020. "Blockchain-empowered sustainable manufacturing and product lifecycle management in industry 4.0: A survey," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    16. Xia, Hanbing & Li, Jiahong & Jan Li, Qian & Milisavljevic-Syed, Jelena & Salonitis, Konstantinos, 2025. "Integrating blockchain with digital product passports for managing reverse supply chain," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    17. Langley, David J. & Rosca, Eugenia & Angelopoulos, Marios & Kamminga, Oscar & Hooijer, Christa, 2023. "Orchestrating a smart circular economy: Guiding principles for digital product passports," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    18. Douglas Mulhall & Anne-Christine Ayed & Jeannot Schroeder & Katja Hansen & Thibaut Wautelet, 2022. "The Product Circularity Data Sheet—A Standardized Digital Fingerprint for Circular Economy Data about Products," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-19, May.
    19. Manvydas Mikulėnas & Lina Šeduikytė, 2025. "Circularity and Decarbonization Synergies in the Construction Sector: Implications for Zero-Carbon Energy Policy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-23, February.
    20. Sultan Çetin & Catherine De Wolf & Nancy Bocken, 2021. "Circular Digital Built Environment: An Emerging Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-34, June.
    21. Rabia Charef, 2024. "A Digital Framework for the Implementation of the Circular Economy in the Construction Sector: Expert Opinions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-19, July.
    22. Paúl Espinoza-Zambrano & Carlos Marmolejo-Duarte & Alejandra García-Hooghuis, 2023. "Libro del Edificio Electrónico (LdE-e): Advancing towards a Comprehensive Tool for the Management and Renovation of Multifamily Buildings in Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-26, February.
    23. Zhu, Lu & He, Juan, 2025. "Battery passport collaborative development strategy: A cooperative-stochastic evolutionary game analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    24. Foivos Psarommatis & Gökan May, 2024. "Digital Product Passport: A Pathway to Circularity and Sustainability in Modern Manufacturing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-24, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Idiano D'Adamo & Luciano Fratocchi & Chiara Grosso & Madjid Tavana, 2025. "An Integrated Business Strategy for the Twin Transition: Leveraging Digital Product Passports and Circular Economy Models," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(7), pages 9008-9022, November.
    2. Dwivedi, Ashutosh Dhar & Tadayoni, Reza, 2025. "Designing Decentralized Digital Product Passports: A Path to Circular Economy Implementation," 33rd European Regional ITS Conference, Edinburgh, 2025: Digital innovation and transformation in uncertain times 331267, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    3. Xia, Hanbing & Li, Jiahong & Jan Li, Qian & Milisavljevic-Syed, Jelena & Salonitis, Konstantinos, 2025. "Integrating blockchain with digital product passports for managing reverse supply chain," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    4. Helapura Nuwanshi Yasodara Senarathne & Nilmini Pradeepika Weerasinghe & Guomin Zhang, 2025. "Developing a Standardized Materials Passport Framework to Unlock the Full Circular Potential in the Construction Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-28, July.
    5. Zhu, Lu & He, Juan, 2025. "Battery passport collaborative development strategy: A cooperative-stochastic evolutionary game analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    6. Konstantinos Voulgaridis & Thomas Lagkas & Constantinos Marios Angelopoulos & Alexandros-Apostolos A. Boulogeorgos & Vasileios Argyriou & Panagiotis Sarigiannidis, 2024. "Digital product passports as enablers of digital circular economy: a framework based on technological perspective," Telecommunication Systems: Modelling, Analysis, Design and Management, Springer, vol. 85(4), pages 699-715, April.
    7. Charlotte Ducuing & René Herbert Reich, 2023. "Data governance: Digital product passports as a case study," Competition and Regulation in Network Industries, , vol. 24(1), pages 3-23, March.
    8. Shiqian Zhu & Xiaogang Liu, 2025. "The Ecodesign Transformation of Smart Clothing: Towards a Systemic and Coupled Social–Ecological–Technological System Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-28, February.
    9. Slavkovic, Katarina & Stephan, André, 2025. "Dynamic life cycle assessment of buildings and building stocks – A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    10. Su, Dan & Zhang, Lijun & Peng, Hua & Saeidi, Parvaneh & Tirkolaee, Erfan Babaee, 2023. "Technical challenges of blockchain technology for sustainable manufacturing paradigm in Industry 4.0 era using a fuzzy decision support system," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    11. Bowen Zhang & Johan Larsson & Wiebke Reim, 2025. "Circular Business Models for Construction Companies: A Literature Review and Future Research Directions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-24, May.
    12. Muhammad Ehtsham & Giuliana Parisi & Flavia Pedone & Federico Rossi & Marta Zincani & Eleonora Congiu & Chiara Marchionni, 2025. "AI-Powered Advanced Technologies for a Sustainable Built Environment: A Systematic Review on Emerging Challenges," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-45, September.
    13. Naseri, F. & Gil, S. & Barbu, C. & Cetkin, E. & Yarimca, G. & Jensen, A.C. & Larsen, P.G. & Gomes, C., 2023. "Digital twin of electric vehicle battery systems: Comprehensive review of the use cases, requirements, and platforms," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    14. repec:bcp:journl:v:9:y:2025:i:30:p:437-447 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Dimitri Petrik & Gero Strobel & Thorsten Schoormann & Frederik Möller & Christoph Hoppe-Ludwig & Virginia Springer, 2026. "Digital product passports," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 36(1), pages 1-16, December.
    16. Morteza Ghobakhloo & Mohammad Iranmanesh & Andrius Grybauskas & Mantas Vilkas & Monika Petraitė, 2021. "Industry 4.0, innovation, and sustainable development: A systematic review and a roadmap to sustainable innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(8), pages 4237-4257, December.
    17. Gianmarco Bressanelli & Federico Adrodegari & Daniela C. A. Pigosso & Vinit Parida, 2022. "Towards the Smart Circular Economy Paradigm: A Definition, Conceptualization, and Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-20, April.
    18. Joanicjusz Nazarko & Ewa Chodakowska & Łukasz Nazarko, 2022. "Evaluating the Transition of the European Union Member States towards a Circular Economy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-24, May.
    19. Erkki-Jussi Nylén & Antje Klitkou, 2025. "Digital Innovations in Wooden Construction for a Circular Economy," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 5(6), pages 4985-5007, November.
    20. Muen Uddin & Shitharth Selvarajan & Muath Obaidat & Shams Ul Arfeen & Alaa O. Khadidos & Adil O. Khadidos & Maha Abdelhaq, 2023. "From Hype to Reality: Unveiling the Promises, Challenges and Opportunities of Blockchain in Supply Chain Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-24, August.
    21. Fabio De Felice & Antonella Petrillo, 2021. "Green Transition: The Frontier of the Digicircular Economy Evidenced from a Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-26, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:228:y:2026:i:c:s1364032125012730. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.