DPP & ESPR Glossary
Navigating the acronyms and legal definitions of the European Union's Circular Economy Action Plan can be daunting. Use this glossary to understand the key terms surrounding the Digital Product Passport (DPP) and textile sustainability.
BCI (Better Cotton Initiative)
A global not-for-profit organization and the largest cotton sustainability program in the world. It aims to make global cotton production better for the people who produce it and better for the environment it grows in. BCI certificates are frequently linked within a DPP to prove sourcing.
BOM (Bill of Materials)
A comprehensive inventory of the raw materials, assemblies, subassemblies, parts, and quantities needed to manufacture a product. In the context of ESPR, a digital BOM is the foundational data structure of the Digital Product Passport.
DPP (Digital Product Passport)
A structured digital record that collects and shares product data throughout its lifecycle. Mandated by the EU ESPR, it aims to enhance transparency, circularity, and sustainability by making data available to consumers, supply chain partners, and regulators via a data carrier like a QR code.
EPD (Environmental Product Declaration)
A standardized, verified, and registered document that communicates transparent and comparable information about the life-cycle environmental impact of products. EPDs (following ISO 14025) are often attached to a DPP as empirical proof of environmental performance.
ESPR (Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation)
A cornerstone of the EU's Circular Economy approach. It establishes a framework to set ecodesign requirements for almost all physical goods placed on the EU market, significantly extending durability, reusability, upgradability, and repairability. The ESPR is the legislative vehicle creating the DPP mandate.
GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard)
The worldwide leading textile processing standard for organic fibres, including ecological and social criteria, backed up by independent certification of the entire textile supply chain.
GRS (Global Recycled Standard)
An international, voluntary, full-product standard that sets requirements for third-party certification of recycled content, chain of custody, social and environmental practices, and chemical restrictions. Essential for validating "recycled" claims within a DPP.
GS1 Digital Link
A standard that upgrades the traditional barcode to the web, formatting global identifiers (like GTINs) as web URIs. This allows a single QR code on a product to resolve to various digital destinations (like an epassportify DPP page) while still scanning at traditional retail point-of-sale systems.
GTIN (Global Trade Item Number)
An internationally recognized identifier for trade items, developed by GS1. It is the number found beneath standard UPC or EAN barcodes. The GTIN is expected to be the primary unique identifier used to construct a product's Digital Product Passport URL.
LCA (Life Cycle Assessment)
A methodology for assessing environmental impacts associated with all the stages of the life-cycle of a commercial product, process, or service (e.g., from raw material extraction through materials processing, manufacture, distribution, use, repair and maintenance, and disposal/recycling).
REACH
Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals. An EU regulation established to improve the protection of human health and the environment from the risks that can be posed by chemicals. REACH compliance data is a mandatory data vector within a textile DPP.
SVHC (Substances of Very High Concern)
Chemical substances proposed to be subject to authorization under the REACH regulation. The ESPR mandates that the presence of SVHCs above a certain threshold (usually 0.1% w/w) must be explicitly declared within the Digital Product Passport so recycling facilities can handle them properly.
Tier Mapping (Tier 1-4)
The process of identifying all suppliers in a supply chain:
• Tier 1: Finished product assembly (Cut & Sew)
• Tier 2: Material production (Fabric Mills, Dye Houses)
• Tier 3: Raw material processing (Yarn spinning)
• Tier 4: Agriculture or extraction (Cotton farming, oil extraction for synthetics).
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