The impact of Digital Product Passports
The European Union’s Digital Product Passport (DPP) initiative was introduced in 2024 with the aim of enhancing transparency and sustainability across product value chains. Originating from the European Union’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), the DPP aims to create a standardised, digital record for products, capturing comprehensive details about their origin, materials, environmental impact, and end-of-life disposal.
Companies will be required to understand and gather data for each stage of their value chain, and to provide greater transparency on product lifecycles. DPP requirements are expected to apply as of 2027 or 2028.
The move to using DPPs will impact on UK manufacturers and product suppliers operating in or with EU states. Many product suppliers to the UK construction sector are headquartered in Europe are likely to want to run one DPP system across all their products in Europe and the UK. There are also currently questions as to whether the UK government will adopt or align with the DPP initiative. It’s one to watch.
We’ve reported previously on the UK government’s drive towards a circular economy. The move from a linear economy, where products are discarded following use, to a circular economy that keeps materials in use for as long as possible, is a significant challenge facing the manufacturing industry, but ‘remanufacturing’ can play a critical role. Remanufacturing involves delivering high-integrity components that meet or exceed original specifications, offering more value than simply recycling, and reusing the core materials.
A lack of product data, resulting in cost-intensive reverse engineering, is preventing many businesses from scaling a circular approach. The Manufacturer (1 September 2025) has anticipated that DPPs (see above) could become a key enabler of remanufacturing and the circular economy.
Consultation on modernising environmental permitting for industry
The Environment Agency and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are consulting on wide-ranging reforms to the environmental permitting regime for industrial emissions in England. The proposals cover: innovation and tech; agile standard setting; proportionate, coherent regulation; and effectiveness, efficiency and transparency of regulation.
The UK government has announced the suspension of extra border checks on live animal imports from the EU and specific animal and plant products from Ireland/Northern Ireland. It comes ahead of a new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) deal with the EU which aims to make the trading of food cheaper and easier, and strengthen food supply chains.
A risk-based approach is being adopted to manage biosecurity. (This suspension follows the announcement in June that checks on medium risk fruit and vegetables from the EU would be suspended until end of January 2027.) The precise terms of the SPS agreement are still to be finalised.
Following several months of high inflation rates, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) has upgraded its food and non-alcoholic drink inflation forecast, from its previous forecast of 4.8% to 5.7% by December.
The European Commission is considering delaying the application of the EU Deforestation Regulation until December 2026. The Regulation will impose mandatory supply chain due diligence requirements on companies placing relevant commodities (cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya and wood) and related products on the EU market. But a potential delay doesn’t mean you can ignore it. The requirements are tough, so we’re recommending businesses use this extra time to get supply chains in order and stay alert for any changes to the rules.