RAIN Alliance and GS1 have issued a joint position paper highlighting their collaboration around the upcoming Digital Product Passport (DPP) requirements under the European Union’s 2024 Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR).
Leaders and members from both organization issued the paper to emphasizes the critical role of standardized product identification and RAIN-enabled digitalization in driving sustainability. RAIN Alliance and GS1 as well as their members have pledge to ensure industry-wide interoperability and greater supply chain transparency. This reinforces that the path to a circular economy depends on collaboration across the ecosystem.
The statement read in part “Both organizations recognize the critical role that standardized product identification, data exchange and RAIN-enabled digitalization will play in enabling industry compliance. Based on our common user base, this joint statement intends to amplify the messages from our shared members to combine RAIN technology and GS1 identifiers for DPPs, starting with the prioritized sectors in the first ESPR Working Plan for 2025-2030 that are textile, tires, and furniture.”
Below is the position paper includes statements and testimonials on the value of this collaboration from shared member organizations as well as Avery Dennison, Decathlon, EM Micro, HID, Impinj, Michelin, Nedap, NXP, SML, Tageos, Trimco Group and Zebra Technologies. The paper has been edited for length and clarity.
GS1 and RAIN Alliance Paper
GS1 and RAIN Alliance greatly value regulatory requirements globally and especially in the European region. For this reason, the focus of this joint statement is particularly on the EU Digital Product Passport provisions, stemming from the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) that aims to make the environmental impact of products transparent throughout their lifecycle by leveraging efficient digital solutions.
GS1 is a neutral, not-for-profit supply chain standards organization with Member Organizations located in 120 countries, delivering global standards to improve the efficiency, visibility and sustainability of product data. The GS1 system includes standards for item, location and entity identification using linear and 2D barcodes and radio identification (RAIN) tags as well as business-to-business standards enabling e-commerce and data synchronization. GS1 users support co-existent and interoperable use of data carriers, and are supporting the initiative to make smart device reading of RFID a reality by working in the GS1 standards process (GSMP) to agree on a syntax that will be used to make this happen.
The RAIN Alliance is a neutral, not-for-profit industry association that enables organizations to improve traceability, effectiveness, and sustainability by simplifying, standardizing, and accelerating the adoption of RAIN technology through global collaboration and innovation. RAIN Alliance is actively supporting the Digital Product Passport (DPP) initiative in the European Union (EU), with our mission of creating a smarter and more sustainable world by using RAIN RFID technology to connect trillions of everyday items across their entire lifecycle, simply and inexpensively.
RAIN Alliance firmly believes that RAIN is a well-positioned data carrier solution for DPPs with its unparalleled advantages in traceability and circularity and is necessary to support the EU’s goal of unlocking a circular economy at scale. RAIN Alliance members are leading the initiative to make smart device reading of RAIN RFID a reality, working with all the key stakeholders in the value chain.
Both organizations recognize the critical role that standardized product identification, data exchange and RAIN-enabled digitalization will play in enabling industry compliance. Based on our common user base, this joint statement intends to amplify the messages from our shared members to combine RAIN technology and GS1 identifiers for DPPs, starting with the prioritized sectors in the first ESPR Working Plan for 2025-2030 that are textile, tires, and furniture.
GS1 and RAIN Alliance collaborative efforts span multiple industries, including tires and textiles, as well as logistics. By enabling interoperability and improving supply chain visibility, our joint work supports circular economy principles, facilitating better end-of-life processing and waste reduction.
Below are DPP statements from our shared members from the textile and tire industries, as well as RAIN technology providers.
Avery Dennison, as a member of the RAIN Alliance, fully supports the joint focus of GS1 and RAIN Alliance on enabling Digital Product Passports (DPPs) through standardized identification and RAIN RFID enabled digitization. DPPs are being explored across a wide range of sectors such as tires, textiles, furniture and others, because of their potential to improve transparency, traceability, and sustainability. In the EU, this interest extends beyond products covered by the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR),and is also driven by other product-specific regulations including the Toys Safety Regulation or the Batteries Regulation. Similarly, product traceability is a focus of international initiatives such as the FAO Sustainable Food Value Chain. Alignment across different sectors, harmonization of different DPP standardization initiatives such as those led by CEN-CENELEC, ISO, and IEEE, along with combinable data carriers (such as RAIN RFID and 2D barcodes), will be critical to achieving scalable, secure, and interoperable adoption. We also emphasize the need for robust resolver and data access infrastructure, along with strong security and privacy measures, to ensure scalable, trusted DPP implementations that effectively support the circular economy.
Decathlon “firmly assert that the utilization of RAIN RFID technology as a data carrier with GS1 encoding stands as a de-facto reference solution for any Digital Product Passport (DPP) system. This assertion is substantiated by attributes such as granularity at the item level, ease of data retrieval, and its widespread international adoption. These qualities make RFID technology indispensable, extending its necessity beyond the point of sale.”
EM Microelectronic has been a pioneer in RFID technology for over 35 years, delivering innovative and differentiated RAIN RFID and NFC solutions. As a board member of the RAIN Alliance and a GS1 solution partner, EM Microelectronic strongly believes that RFID is a foundational technology for circular economy initiatives and the upcoming Digital Product Passport (DPP) regulations.
HID – “A DPP plans to include a unique product identifier […] along with crucial data on materials, sourcing, manufacturing processes and sustainability metrics.” An example may be a serialized GS1 identifier encoded as an Electronic Product Code (EPC) in a passive RAIN RFID tag.
Impinj – The item-level visibility and traceability delivered by RAIN RFID have already made countless supply chains more efficient and less wasteful, in line with the aims of the Digital Product Passport (DPP) initiative – making RAIN RFID a natural DPP data carrier. The RAIN Alliance and GS1 diligently nurture the standards, identifiers, security, and data governance necessary to deliver DPPs to consumers’ fingertips. Impinj proudly works closely with both associations as we pursue our mission to connect everything and, in so doing, improve people’s lives.
Michelin coordinates the tire DPP pilot of the CIRPASS-2 EU funded project, that brings together 12 companies and associations to test the digitalization of the circular value chain on various real life use cases. What is it about? “Technically, our pilot will rely on GS1 identifiers, ISO standards of [RAIN] RFID technology for tires and GDSO services, the tire industry dataspace created in 2022 to share data in a standard manner around connected tires.” For tire applications in the project, UII shall be coded using SGTIN-96 as per GS1 EPC Tag Data Standard.
Nedap – As sustainability and transparency gain global focus, technologies like Digital Product Passports (DPPs) and [RAIN] RFID are reshaping retail and supply chains. The fashion industry with its high environmental impact can greatly benefit by enhancing sustainability, efficiency and consumer trust. “Adopting these technologies is not just a necessity – it’s an opportunity to lead.“
NXP Semiconductors sees Digital Product Passports (DPPs) as essential for enabling product traceability and effective lifecycle management. Various automatic identification technologies can serve as a data carrier for DPP, this includes RAIN RFID, supporting organizations in achieving greater transparency and efficiency throughout a product’s lifecycle ultimately improving sustainability.
SML as a global leader in digital identification and RFID solutions, is proud to provide end-to-end DPP solutions, combining both DPP-ready products like Inspire™ Care Labels, Heat Transfers, Woven Labels and SmartPeel along with our dedicated DPP data management platform. Our integrated approach empowers brands to not just seamlessly capture, manageand share the product data required under the EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and other global sustainability mandates but also to leverage this value adding opportunities beyond compliance.
SML solutions are built on GS1 standards and RAIN RFID technology, ensuring full interoperability, item-level traceability and scalability across complex global supply chains. By delivering both physical and digital DPP components, we help retailers and manufacturers accelerate their DPP readiness, support circular business models and drive greater product transparency and sustainability. We look forward to continued collaboration with GS1, the RAIN Alliance and industry partners to help make DPP a practical reality for the textile, apparel and broader retail sectors.
Tageos highlights RFID technology as a key enabler of high-quality unique identifiers for the Digital Product Passport (DPP). As integral components of the DPP, RAIN RFID inlays and tags offer significant benefits— including durability, long service life, reliable data accessibility, cost-effectiveness, and a low environmental impact in terms of both carbon emissions and waste.
To meet the tagging requirements of a wide variety of product types, Tageos supports its customers with a broad portfolio of high-quality RAIN RFID inlays and tags. The company also develops specialized inlays and tags for specific goods – such as chemicals, electronics, apparel, furniture, and toys – which must be precisely engineered to suit each product’s environment and requirements.
Zebra Technologies’ RAIN RFID solutions, utilizing GS1 standards, encode unique identifiers like GTINs onto RFID tags, enabling item-level tracking and data capture for the EU’s Digital Product Passport (DPP). Integrated with GS1 Digital Link, Zebra’s RFID solutions connect physical products to cloud-based DPP records, providing real-time access to lifecycle data such as material composition and recycling instructions. Through partnerships with our community of software providers, Zebra is an integral part of a comprehensive DPP solution, simplifying large-scale data management and ensuring compliance with the EU’s transparency and sustainability requirements across industries like tires, textiles and electronics.