ANIET, as part of the project "Sustainability in the Natural Stone Sector”, is working with ICS – Institute for Sustainable Construction and entities from the sector to identify data models applicable to products from the Natural Stone and Mineral sector and to assess companies' capacity to prepare elements that may later form part of a Digital Product Passport for their products.

It also serves as the framework for a set of delegated acts concerning products from specific sectors, such as construction products. In this context, Regulation 2024/3110, also referred to as the new Construction Products Regulation, was published in December 2024.

Among several updates, these two regulations introduce and strengthen the concept of the Digital Product Passport (DPP or PDP), a digital tool aimed at electronically storing and sharing, in a traceable and interoperable way, relevant information related to product performance (reinforcing legal compliance) and to the promotion of circularity and sustainability (environmental data and information associated with natural resource management and the product life cycle).

This passport, particularly in the context of construction, follows reflections aimed at developing a more digital CE marking system. In addition to the data provided in the "traditional” CE marking, the aim is now to include other information such as: technical performance of the product, materials and their origins, repair activities, reuse/recycling potential, environmental impacts across the product life cycle, among others.

The specifications outlined in these two Regulations regarding the technical and technological characteristics of the Digital Product Passport for different sectors — and specifically for the construction sector — highlight some of the challenges. However, they mainly show that, beyond the new requirements, many processes will remain the same, and a large set of existing data will continue to be used.

In the construction sector, the Digital Product Passport will initially apply to all products with harmonised standards or European Technical Approvals (ETA). In addition to the characteristics foreseen and described in these standards for different types of products, other features will apply, such as those stemming from the Ecodesign Regulation. Although the new Regulation has already been published, its entry into force will be progressive, and a voluntary adoption period for the Passport is foreseen.

The guidelines provided in the new CPR clearly state that it will be necessary to develop data models for different types of products and conduct studies to assess how easy or difficult it will be for companies to deliver, in the short to medium term, the data required to register their products in the Digital Product Passport system.

It is therefore urgent that manufacturers and producers of construction products begin this process, by developing a set of actions that will allow for the early voluntary implementation of the Digital Product Passport for Construction Products.