For years, reverse logistics operated with limited product-level intelligence. Returned items were sorted based on condition, SKU, or broad category codes, rarely with traceability back to material composition, repair history, or circular eligibility. But the EU’s Digital Product Passport (DPP) regulation is set to change that, requiring item-level data that travels with the product from sale to return, reuse, or recycling. As enforcement nears, logistics networks will need to adapt fast.
From Product Label to Product Memory
Returns, once managed by approximate categorizations and generic restocking protocols, are now being reframed around unique product identities. The DPP framework requires detailed, machine-readable information on a product’s composition, origin, maintenance history, and end-of-life pathways, data that must be accessible throughout the supply chain, including at the point of return.
During the 2024 peak season, 58% of logistics leaders reported struggling with delivery accuracy, while 47% said their systems couldn’t handle volume spikes, according to a 2025 Deposco survey. These gaps exposed deeper problems, not just in forward fulfillment, but in the ability to manage returns, repairs, or refurbishments tied to specific product variants. Without item-level traceability, logistics teams risk compounding delays, increasing fraud exposure, and missing regulatory reporting requirements under emerging circularity mandates like the DPP.
Companies such as Decathlon and Philips are among the early movers. Philips has begun embedding digital IDs in its consumer appliances to enable real-time diagnostics and repair tracking, while Decathlon’s pilot with DPP-linked QR codes on sportswear aims to optimize return routing and feed into its re-commerce channels. These efforts align logistics flows with circular economy targets, creating visibility not just over where a product is, but what condition it’s in, how it was used, and whether it should be resold, repaired, or recycled.
The New Reverse Logistics Playbook
Digital Intake Infrastructure: Logistics hubs must prepare for DPP-enabled returns by integrating scanning and data interpretation tools capable of reading and acting on machine-readable product passports. These tools need to link directly to disposition logic in WMS and refurbishment workflows, allowing for immediate routing decisions.
Dynamic Returns Sorting: The traditional returns triage model, manual inspection followed by binning, is too blunt for DPP-era logistics. Instead, companies should deploy AI-powered sortation that factors in condition data, repair history, and sustainability directives to direct goods toward resale, donation, parts reclamation, or regulated disposal.
Refurbishment Readiness Mapping: With more products returning through circular business models, logistics operators must collaborate closely with OEMs to build refurbishment and remanufacturing pathways. Knowing in advance which SKUs are eligible, and where certified repair capacity exists, will be critical to unlocking value.
Compliance-Linked Routing: DPPs include country-specific recycling, reuse, and labeling mandates. Reverse logistics networks will need to incorporate regulatory-aware routing logic to avoid cross-border non-compliance, particularly for returns of battery-powered devices and medical equipment.
Data Federation Across the Lifecycle: For DPPs to deliver their full value, logistics providers must become stewards of product data, not just handlers of physical goods. Federating passport data with inventory systems, customs documentation, and carbon reporting frameworks will become table stakes for reverse logistics partners.
Future-Proofing Reverse Logistics
The Digital Product Passport doesn’t just add a documentation layer, it redefines reverse logistics as a core enabler of circular business models. With traceable digital identities embedded at the item level, logistics teams are no longer just handling returns; they’re managing regulated assets. This shift requires not only system upgrades, but also new thinking about compliance as a logistics function, about recovery as a value stream, and about reverse flows as strategic infrastructure. The question ahead isn’t how to process returns faster, but how to extract more from every unit that comes back.
OpenText Experts on the Strategic Role of Digital Product Passports
In our recent webinar – Beyond Compliance: How Digital Product Passports Unlock New Value, experts from OpenText discussed how Digital Product Passports are enabling deeper integration between product, supplier, and logistics data systems. The session outlined practical approaches for improving traceability, automating compliance, and unlocking new efficiencies across reverse flows. Watch the webinar replay here.
