Leveraging Digital Product Passports to Overcome Circular Economy Challenges: Comparative Insights from the Textile and Semiconductor Industries

The urgent challenge of environmental degradation and resource depletion calls for a fundamental shift from traditional linear economies to circular economies (CEs), where resources are continuously reused. Digital Product Passports (DPPs), a pioneering initiative by the European Union, are emerging as a key tool to facilitate this transition by providing comprehensive product lifecycle data and enhancing transparency and traceability across value chains. This study investigates how DPPs can address CE challenges in the textile and semiconductor industries by identifying key barriers such as supply chain complexity, technological limitations, stakeholder resistance, and the lack of standardized practices. Employing a comparative case study approach, the research demonstrates how DPPs can enhance recycling processes, improve recovery efficiency, support product lifecycle extension, and enable industrial symbiosis. While challenges related to standardization, interoperability, and digital infrastructure persist, the findings highlight the transformative potential of DPPs to operationalize CE principles and advance the global transition to sustainable economic models in industries with complex supply chains.