Industry · Tyres
The product passport for tyres: the label was only the warm-up.
Tyres are in the first priority group of the ESPR working plan: the delegated act is expected for 2027, putting the obligation at ~2028/29. With the EU tyre label, the industry has known product labelling for years – the DPP goes far beyond it: abrasion and microplastics, mileage, recycled content, retreadability, machine-readable on the individual tyre.
- 2027Delegated act expected
- ~2028/29Obligation at the earliest (act + ~18 months)
- Tyre labelEfficiency, wet grip, noise already exist – the DPP demands much more
- AbrasionMicroplastics from tyre abrasion are an EU regulatory priority
01 — Situation
Why tyres are on the priority list.
Tyres are a special case among the ESPR product groups: an established EU product label already exists – the EU tyre label covering fuel efficiency, wet grip and external rolling noise. Which is exactly why the step to the Digital Product Passport is not uncharted territory here, but a substantial expansion: the label rates the use phase, the DPP covers the entire life cycle.
The ESPR working plan (April 2025) lists tyres in the first priority group. As of July 2026, the delegated act is expected for 2027; with the usual transition period of ~18 months, the obligation would apply from ~2028/29 at the earliest. The dates are indicative – the current status is in the DPP timeline.
In substance, two topics drive the regulation: microplastics from tyre abrasion – one of the largest microplastic pathways in the EU, with abrasion limits already part of the Euro 7 debate – and the circularity of end-of-life tyres, from recycled content to retreading. Manufacturers and importers are affected alike; fleet operators and leasing companies will use the passport data for procurement and sustainability reporting.
02 — Requirements
What data the tyre DPP is likely to require.
This only becomes binding with the delegated act – the working plan, the microplastics agenda and label experience point to these categories:
Abrasion & microplastics
Abrasion behaviour as an environmental parameter – politically the most important new value, methodologically demanding: robust test data per model becomes a must.
Durability & mileage
Lifetime metrics beyond today’s label classes – longevity moves from marketing promise to documented product property.
Material composition & recycled content
Rubber types, fillers, substances of concern plus the share of recycled and renewable materials – the basis of every circularity assessment.
Retreadability & circularity data
Suitability for retreading, dismantling and recovery information for end-of-life tyre processors – tiered access rights included.
Unique identifier on the tyre
Identifier per EN 18219 with a data carrier on the product – the industry knows the principle from the DOT/serial number; what is new is the machine-readable link to the passport data record.
Conformity & label data
Existing type-approval and tyre-label values are likely to move into the passport as well – maintained once, published many times.
Your label data lives in EPREL – but where is the rest?
Abrasion values, compound data, recycled content, retreading history: the DPP demands data that today sits in separate systems or does not exist at all. A short call shows where your gaps are.
03 — Approach
Tyre readiness in five steps.
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1
Applicability check
Check your range against the working plan: passenger car, truck, two-wheeler, speciality tyres – what falls under the expected act when, and what do fleet customers demand even earlier?
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2
Testing & material data audit
Take stock of type-approval, label (EPREL), compound and supplier data – who holds what, at what level (model, size, production batch)?
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3
Close the gaps: abrasion & recycled content
Identify missing metrics and plan their collection – abrasion data and auditable recycled-content evidence in particular need lead time in the test plan.
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4
Data model & identifier
DPP data model per model/size, identifier concept per EN 18219 compatible with your existing serial-number logic, connection to PIM/ERP and the EU registry.
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5
Pilot product passport
A real tyre line with a complete data record, QR identifier and registration dummy – as the blueprint for the rollout and as an argument in the next fleet tender.
04 — FAQ
Frequently asked questions from the tyre industry.
When does the Digital Product Passport become mandatory for tyres?
The delegated act is expected for 2027; with the usual transition period of ~18 months, the obligation would apply from ~2028/29 at the earliest. These dates are indicative and may shift – the only fixed dates so far are the battery passport (18 Feb 2027) and the EU DPP registry (deadline: 19 July 2026).
Will the DPP replace the EU tyre label?
Not in the short term – label and passport have different legal bases. Realistically, the label values (efficiency, wet grip, noise) will flow into the passport as a subset. We design data models so that EPREL maintenance and the DPP are served from one source.
Does the passport apply per tyre model or per individual tyre?
The delegated act will decide. For new tyres, an identifier at model/size level is plausible; for retreading, an individual-tyre history would be the real added value. We recommend identifier concepts that carry both granularities – EN 18219 explicitly provides for model, batch and individual item.
We import tyres from Asia – what does this mean for us?
As the importer, you place the goods on the EU market and therefore carry the passport obligation. You need robust data from the manufacturer – material composition, test values, recycled content – and should write it into supply contracts and QA agreements now. Sourcing it after the fact is expensive to impossible.
What do fleet operators get from the tyre DPP?
Comparable mileage, abrasion and retreading data per model – for the first time across manufacturers and machine-readable. Valuable for tenders, TCO calculations and CSRD reports. Fleet suppliers should expect customers to include passport data in tenders as soon as it is available.
Contact
From label to passport – the leap is bigger than it looks.
Tell us briefly whether you manufacture, import or equip fleets – you will get an honest assessment of which data you are missing today and what to do by 2027.
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