digglue joins project to establish Japanese Digital Product Passport standard

Technology firm digglue Inc. has joined a demonstration project to establish a Japanese standard for Digital Product Passports (DPPs), a critical tool for enhancing transparency in circular material supply chains. The project is led by the Resource Recycling Council (RRC), and is preparing Japanese industries for impending international regulations and strengthen the country’s position in the global circular economy.

The project follows the growing international momentum for DPPs, which digitally record and share information across a product’s entire life cycle, from raw material sourcing to recycling. The European Union’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) will mandate the use of DPPs for certain product categories from 2026 onwards. This makes compliance a pressing issue for Japanese companies operating within global supply chains.

The RRC’s working group is focused on the establishment of a Japanese standard DPP system and the creation of advanced use cases. A key challenge in implementing DPPs is creating a system that allows necessary information to be shared across the entire supply chain while ensuring individual companies maintain control over their own data. This demonstration project will test a model for secure and reliable data linkage, simulating the use of a data space to protect data sovereignty.

The project is a collaborative effort involving several key players. For digglue, they will provide its DPP-compatible product, “CiReta!,” to generate and utilise the passports. The system will be used to verify the effectiveness of DPPs based on reliable data concerning the origin and environmental impact of recycled materials. The company also plans to integrate this with its resource circulation platform, “MateRe-Traceability,” to create a comprehensive solution that covers the entire process from data acquisition to DPP creation.

The findings from this demonstration will be used to inform policy recommendations and the development of a standard Japanese DPP specification. Through this project, digglue and its partners aim to support Japanese businesses in adapting to new global rules, thereby enhancing the industrial competitiveness of Japan’s resource circulation sector and contributing to the formation of international standards.