Passport to the future

On 20 July 2026, the European Commission launched the Digital Product Passport Registry. This is a momentous change for businesses operating in the European market, and a big win for the environment-but it has left many businesses scrambling to comply with the new regulation.

The DPP-a digital container of product information designed to increase transparency for the consumer-was introduced under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation in the European Union. The deadline for companies to comply is projected to be between 2027 and 2028. Many of the product categories subject to the regulation, including fashion, furnishing fabric and rugs, contain textiles.

What information is contained in a DPP? Think of it as a virtual life story of a product, tracing its journey from origin to the recycling bin. This history is usually contained within a QR code embedded in the product that contains its origin, material composition and life-cycle. Companies will have to certify that their products were produced using fair and safe working conditions, with no child labour.

They will have to comply with specific environmental and sustainability standards, revealing a company’s carbon footprint and the projected longevity of a product, as well as information on how to repair or recycle a product at the end of its life.

Spanish rug company nanimarquina is the very first rug company to adopt DPPs.

According to the company’s head of sustainability, Alex Jimenez, it was a natural strategic move: ‘It unites all that the company has been doing in terms of sustainability since the minute zero of the creation of the company. Our goal is to be as transparent as possible.’ environmental standards. Even the packaging of the rug is accounted for.’

The DPP also addresses how to extend the life of a rug through careful cleaning and repair, and how to recycle or dispose of a rug responsibly at the end of its life cycle.

The QR code is also very helpful in the secondary market, as both a marker of authenticity and to provide care information to the next owner of the rug-particularly if resellers can update the DPP.

Communication can travel both ways, and nanimarquina can gather information on end users and their location, which is highly valuable operationally, ‘to close the gap’, says Jimenez.

Each embedded QR code contains a mind-boggling amount of information, which the consumer can access through the company’s website. Customers will find a diagram mapping the various stages of the rug’s production.

One stage is the dyeing process: ‘Sixty per cent [of the wastewater] is filtered and reused for agricultural irrigation,’ says Jimenez, ‘20% evaporates, the remaining 20% becomes sludge that is handled by “specialised companies”.

The supplier has signed a ‘code of conduct’ to certify that it has met the company’s labour and human rights policies as well as its decades, it will still be the main material.’ To offset this carbon footprint, the company aims to focus on creating rugs that will have a long life.

As Jimenez points out, there is no getting around the fact that wool, despite its durability has a big carbon footprint. ‘We are working on different strategies to reduce the dependency of the company on this material, but I’m sure in the coming years and

To implement DPPs is no mean feat; nanimarquina had already been doing rug life-cycle assessments, and collecting data before the new regulation, but for many companies the introduction of DPPs will involve a large amount of data collection and preparation. Jaipur Rugs, Tamarian and Obeetee have already introduced QR codes on their products and will have a head start.

Obeetee’s president, Angelique Dhama, explains that the QR codes were adopted to ensure traceability.

‘We can tell you about the craftsperson behind it-their name, where they came from, the village or city they belong and, where appropriate, details about their family and their life.’ A rug is not just a product, ‘there is a human being behind every piece, and that human story if an important part of its value’, says Dhama.

To ease the transition to DPPs, software companies such as Renoon and Avery Dennison offer services to manage supply chain data and compliance. To be fully compliant, as well working with green business certifiers, rug companies will need to partner with organisations such as GoodWeave, Label STEP and Care & Fair to guarantee that rugs were produced under fair labour conditions.

Critics of the regulation cite confidentiality issues and high financial costs involved with implementing the DPPs-but it’s hard not to see the DPPs as a net positive for the environment, and for the consumer. The market is flooded with ‘green’ products, but this new regulation forces companies to validate their claims.

It might also encourage consumers to buy less frequently, and be more diligent in taking care of their rugs as stakeholders in the product and the planet’s future.