Background: The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) will require all products placed on the EU market to carry a Digital Product Passport (DPP). However, the required data attributes for the DPP are yet to be defined. The emerging nature has introduced a need for further scientific research to clarify the impact of the DPP and specific data attributes for actors in the circular economy. This research is a part of the research project “System Demonstrator for a sustainable textile system”, funded by the Swedish Innovation Agency Vinnova and led by Science Park at University of Borås.

Purpose: The purpose is to explore requested DPP data attributes by downstream circular actors and what data these actors can disclose concerning their interactions with the product to further support the circularity of products. The first research question covers the input in terms of the data they receive and the second one covers the output in the form of relevant data they could provide to other stakeholders.

Methodology: This research has a qualitative approach. It explores the purpose through semi structured interviews and workshop participation. A purposive sampling approach was adopted where the participating companies of the System Demonstrator project were selected as respondents. A constructed conceptual framework is applied, based on a merge of the 3R strategy and the multi-stakeholder theory.

Results: This research identified data attributes requested as input and output for the DPP among stakeholders acting within reuse, remake and recycling. For the reuse stakeholders, 14 data attributes requested as input and 8 data attributes relevant as output were identified. As for the remake stakeholders, 19 data attributes as input and 8 data attributes as output were identified. Lastly, for the recycling stakeholders, 5 data attributes were requested as input while only 1 was acknowledged as a possible output. Overall, the requested DPP data attributes varied between the downstream circular actors of this study, including among the stakeholders acting within the same R-strategy. Moreover, the perceived purpose and value of data sharing through the DPP varied between the stakeholders. Notably, the recycling actors recognized the least potential.

Implications: The research is relevant for textile management since it addresses the integration of new legislations and future requirements for a circular textile industry. It contributes to a categorization of specific data attributes, based on what different actors need and how these can differ. The findings of this research are relevant for the research project System Demonstrator, but also other actors operating in the textile industry, offering guidance for actors with similar R-strategy or companies working with these actors. The research further establishes direction for multi-stakeholder collaboration, to enrich the knowledge into the perspectives and needs of all value chain actors.