Digital Product Passports Are Changing How the Textile Industry Manages Data and Materials

The textile industry is entering a phase in which product data can be just as important as the products themselves. Information about fiber composition, raw material sources, dyeing processes, repairability, lifespan, and end-of-use treatment is increasingly required to be more transparent. For exporting companies, especially those with markets in Europe, storing this information is no longer solely a matter of internal management; it may become part of the conditions for market access.

One concept receiving growing attention is the digital product passport, commonly known as the Digital Product Passport. It is a collection of electronic data linked to a product or group of products, allowing relevant parties to access information about the product’s origin, materials, environmental characteristics, and ability to circulate throughout its life cycle. A digital product passport is not simply a green label, nor does it replace the entire certification system. Its value lies in connecting data among raw material suppliers, manufacturers, brands, retailers, consumers, and recyclers.

The European Union has created a legal framework for this approach through the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, or ESPR. This regulation expands the ecodesign approach from certain energy-related product groups to a broader scope, in which textiles and footwear are considered significantly relevant categories. However, the fact that a product group falls within the priority scope does not mean that every specific requirement automatically applies to every business. Detailed criteria still depend on implementing legislation and relevant standards.

What Is a Digital Product Passport?

In essence, a digital product passport is a structured data record. Users can access this record through an identification code, such as a QR code, a radio-frequency tag, or another technical identification method. The specific content will depend on the product category and management requirements, but it may include information about materials, origin, manufacturer, instructions for use, repair, disassembly, recycling, and end-of-life treatment.

For a garment, the data may be divided into several layers. The first layer contains commercial information and product identification. The next layer covers fiber composition, the proportion of virgin or recycled fibers, the type of dyes, and associated components such as zippers, buttons, or sewing thread. At a deeper level, the record may relate to fabric suppliers, finishing facilities, processing procedures, and documentation supporting environmental claims.

An important difference from printing information on a label is that digital data can be updated, access-controlled, and connected to multiple systems. A recycler does not necessarily need to see all of a brand’s commercial data, but may need to know what types of fibers the product contains, whether materials are blended, and which components need to be separated. Conversely, a regulator or conformity assessment body may need access to other supporting documents.

Not a Single Database for the Entire Industry

Digital product passports are often mistakenly understood as a centralized data repository operated by a single organization. In reality, the more important requirements are that data be interoperable, protected, and retrievable according to appropriate access rights. Businesses can still maintain their own management systems, provided that the necessary data can be supplied in accepted formats and according to accepted rules.

This arrangement raises questions about data ownership. Information about product composition may be shared more broadly, while processing formulas, raw material purchase prices, or customer lists need to remain confidential. Therefore, implementing a digital product passport is not simply a matter of purchasing software to create QR codes. Businesses must determine what data will be collected, who is responsible for verification, who has the right to edit it, and what information will be provided to each user group.

Why Is the Textile Industry Clearly Affected?

Textile supply chains typically have many tiers and extend across multiple countries. A product may begin as fiber, then move through spinning, weaving or knitting, dyeing, finishing, cutting and sewing, packaging, and finally distribution. Each stage generates a different set of data. If data is not recorded from the outset, recovering information at the end of the chain is usually costly and likely to create gaps.

The use of many types of fibers and blended materials also increases complexity. A product may combine cotton, polyester, elastane, coatings, metal accessories, and several types of thread. From a design perspective, these blends may improve stretch, durability, or the feel of the garment. From a recycling perspective, however, they make sorting and separating materials more difficult. A digital product passport does not solve this technical problem by itself, but it can provide the information needed for processors to choose an appropriate approach.

Data transparency is also connected to environmental claims. Statements such as “recycled fibers,” “responsibly produced,” or “low impact” are meaningful only when accompanied by an appropriate scope, measurement method, and evidence. A good data system helps businesses distinguish between verified information, information self-declared by suppliers, and information requiring independent assessment. This is an important factor as many markets tighten requirements to prevent misleading environmental information.

Impact on Vietnamese Businesses

Traceability Will Shift from Isolated Records to End-to-End Data

For Vietnamese manufacturers, the first change may lie in how records are managed. Many businesses already have raw material documentation, test records, dyeing tickets, quality control documents, and third-party certifications. However, these documents are often held by different departments, stored in multiple formats, and not always directly linked to individual product codes.

A digital product passport requires businesses to move from the mindset of “having documents when customers ask for them” to “creating structured data as part of the production process.” Material codes, production batches, processing stages, and inspection records need to be linked. When a supplier or fiber composition changes, the system must also record that change instead of continuing to use a single general record.

This is a greater challenge for small and medium-sized businesses. They may lack the resources to build their own platforms, have no dedicated data personnel, and depend on information from upstream suppliers. However, initial investment does not necessarily have to begin with a complex system. Businesses can prioritize key export product lines, standardize data categories, and carefully control points where information is transferred before expanding.

Raw Material Suppliers Will Have to Participate More Deeply

A garment factory cannot easily complete product data if it begins collecting information only when it receives fabric. Important data about fibers, yarns, dyeing processes, and chemical treatment is located in earlier stages. Therefore, requirements for digital product passports may change the relationship between apparel businesses and their suppliers.

In purchasing contracts, businesses may need to clearly specify the types of data to be provided, the update frequency, verification methods, and responsibility when information is inaccurate. Suppliers will not only deliver materials but also the accompanying data set. This may create additional costs, but it can also reduce the time spent answering customer questionnaires and limit the need to provide the same document repeatedly to multiple parties.

Conversely, suppliers with high-quality data will have an advantage when participating in international supply chains. The ability to demonstrate the origin, composition, and characteristics of materials may become a selection criterion alongside price, quality, and delivery time.

Costs, Standards, and Gaps That Need to Be Addressed

Implementing a digital product passport may create costs for software, identification equipment, data integration, training, and verification. The costs do not lie only in technology. Businesses must also allocate resources to clean up old data, standardize the names used for materials, define responsibilities among departments, and check consistency between production records and commercial records.

Standards are another important issue. If each brand requires a different set of forms, suppliers will have to enter the same data multiple times. This increases the administrative burden and creates the risk of discrepancies between versions. Principles concerning interoperability, product identification, data security, and verification therefore play a role that is no less important than the user interface.

Businesses should also be cautious about moving all data to an external platform. Supply chain data may contain sensitive commercial information, including supplier lists, capacity, costs, or technical processes. A suitable system must include access controls, an audit trail for changes, backups, and procedures for handling situations in which the technology provider changes its operating model.

In particular, a QR code on a product should not be viewed as automatic evidence of sustainability. The code is only a means of access. The quality of a passport depends on the data it contains, the sources of evidence, and the verification process. If information is entered incompletely, not updated, or cannot be verified, digitization will not create meaningful transparency.

Where Should Businesses Start Preparing?

The first step is to map data for each product group. Businesses need to identify which products are exported to Europe, which products use multiple types of materials, which stages depend on external suppliers, and what information customers commonly request as supplementary documentation. This helps prioritize resources instead of digitizing everything at once without a clear objective.

The next step is to create a shared “data dictionary.” Fiber names, color codes, units of measurement, batch codes, and certification status should be standardized. If one department calls the same material by a different name from the purchasing department, connecting the data will quickly lead to errors. A data dictionary also provides the foundation for exchanging information with customers and suppliers.

Businesses should classify information into three groups: data that must be available, data that must be verified, and data that can be provided depending on the circumstances. This classification helps prevent the collection of excessive information without a clear purpose. At the same time, each data field needs an assigned person responsible for it, an update schedule, and a process for handling discrepancies when they are discovered.

Testing a specific product line is often more practical than immediately implementing the system across the entire product portfolio. During the testing phase, businesses can check whether supplier data is sufficient, whether employees can use the system, whether identification codes are accurately linked to product batches, and whether end customers understand the information provided.

Finally, a digital product passport should be viewed as part of production management rather than as a communications project. When data is used for quality control, material planning, meeting customer requirements, and supporting recycling, the investment creates value beyond compliance with a single regulation.

A digital product passport cannot yet replace technical solutions for recycling, emissions reduction, or efficient resource use. Nor does it guarantee that every product with good data will be more sustainable. However, this tool can change how the textile industry substantiates claims, coordinates across the supply chain, and takes responsibility for products after they leave the factory.

For Vietnamese businesses, early preparation primarily means reorganizing data and origin-control processes. Businesses that begin by understanding their materials, standardizing records, and working closely with suppliers will have a stronger foundation as the market’s specific requirements are finalized. In a context where competition increasingly depends on the ability to meet requirements, reliable data may become a new production capability for the textile industry.