Digital Product Passport Implementation in Indonesia: Opportunities and Challenges

Indonesia's position at the DPP intersection

Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world, ASEAN's largest economy, and a significant supplier of raw materials and manufactured goods to the EU. It is also a country where the Digital Product Passport (DPP) debate has barely started in public discourse, but where the consequences of inaction are measurable in export revenue.

The EU's Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR, Regulation 2024/1781) and the EU Battery Regulation (2023/1542) are creating a new standard for product information transparency. Starting in 2027, products ranging from batteries to construction materials will need a DPP to enter the EU market. By 2030, textiles, electronics, and furniture face the same requirement.

Indonesia exports all of these product categories to the EU. The question is not whether DPP compliance will affect Indonesian industry. It will. The question is whether Indonesian companies will be ready, or whether EU market access will become the competitive advantage of their better-prepared competitors.

What is a Digital Product Passport?

A Digital Product Passport is a structured digital record linked to a physical product via a QR code or NFC tag. It contains information about the product's origin, material composition, carbon footprint, repairability, and end-of-life handling. Anyone with the right permissions (regulators, buyers, recyclers, consumers) can access this information by scanning the product.

The EU is implementing DPPs as part of its circular economy strategy. The logic: markets cannot make sustainable choices if product information is fragmented, non-standardized, and inaccessible. DPPs standardize product information and make it machine-readable.

For more detail on the DPP framework, see our guide on what a Digital Product Passport is and how to prepare.

Indonesia's relevant export sectors

Batteries and battery materials

Indonesia is the world's largest producer of nickel, which is a critical cathode material for lithium-ion batteries. The EU Battery Regulation requires battery manufacturers to declare the geographic origin and carbon footprint of key raw materials, including nickel. This creates a direct data requirement that flows upstream to Indonesian nickel mines and refineries.

Indonesian nickel producers who cannot provide structured, verifiable supply chain data will become compliance liabilities for their EU battery manufacturer customers. Those who can provide it (geographic origin, mining permits, carbon footprint per tonne, third-party audit reports) will have a supply chain data advantage.

Indonesia's EV manufacturing ambition (the Indonesia Battery Corporation program, the IKN EV ecosystem) also means that Indonesian-made batteries may need to carry their own DPPs for EU export.

Palm oil and derivatives

Indonesia produces approximately 60% of global palm oil supply. Palm oil derivatives appear in cosmetics, food products, biofuels, and industrial lubricants, many of which are exported to the EU.

The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR, Regulation 2023/1115) already requires due diligence on deforestation risk for palm oil entering the EU. The ESPR and product-specific DPP requirements will add sustainability data layers for palm oil-derived products.

Palm oil traceability (from plantation to processor to exporter) is the foundation that both EUDR and future DPP requirements will build on. Companies that invest in supply chain traceability infrastructure now will be positioned for both regulatory frameworks.

Textiles and footwear

Indonesia is a significant textile and garment exporter, including to EU markets. The EU's ESPR delegated acts for textiles are in development and expected around 2030. Requirements will likely include material composition, recycled content, durability claims, and country of manufacture.

Indonesian textile manufacturers serving EU brands (H&M, Zara, Primark supply chains) will increasingly face DPP requirements as a condition of their buyer relationships, even before they become mandatory by regulation. EU fashion brands are already asking for sustainability data from suppliers.

Construction materials

Cement, steel, and mineral-based construction materials face DPP requirements under the revised Construction Products Regulation (CPR 2024/3110). Indonesia exports cement clinker and building materials. The CPR requirements will affect these export streams.

Alignment with SNI (Standar Nasional Indonesia)

SNI (Standar Nasional Indonesia) is Indonesia's national standards framework, managed by BSN (Badan Standardisasi Nasional). Indonesia has historically aligned SNI with ISO standards, and the alignment of sustainability and traceability standards with EU requirements is a policy direction under the Indonesia-EU Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IEU-CEPA) negotiations.

Several areas of alignment are relevant to DPP:

• ISO 14040/14044 (Life Cycle Assessment): the methodology underlying carbon footprint calculations required by DPPs
• GS1 standards: Indonesia has an active GS1 organization (GS1 Indonesia) that issues GTINs and supports barcoding and traceability across Indonesian industry
• ISO 55001 (Asset Management): increasingly referenced in Indonesian industrial compliance frameworks

Alignment with EU DPP data standards does not require Indonesia to adopt the EU's regulatory framework. It requires that Indonesian exporters can generate data in the formats that EU regulations require. This is an interoperability question as much as a regulatory one.

The opportunity: first-mover advantage in traceability

Indonesian companies that build DPP capability before their competitors will have a tangible advantage in EU market access negotiations. EU buyers (whether direct importers or brands with complex supply chains) are actively seeking suppliers who can provide digital, standardized sustainability data.

The demand is clearest in batteries (February 2027 deadline), but it is emerging across sectors. A palm oil processor who can provide an EUDR-compliant deforestation risk assessment and a machine-readable traceability record is more attractive to an EU food manufacturer than one who provides the same data in a PDF.

Indonesia's geographic position as a raw material supplier puts it upstream in DPP supply chains. Upstream data quality determines downstream compliance ease. Indonesian companies who provide high-quality, structured supply chain data create value for their entire buyer network.

The challenges: infrastructure, literacy, and cost

Digital infrastructure

Reliable internet connectivity and smartphone penetration vary significantly across Indonesia's geography. DPP implementation for smallholder palm oil farmers or small-scale miners in remote Sulawesi or Kalimantan requires connectivity that may not exist at the point of production.

This does not prevent DPP implementation at the aggregator or processor level. For export compliance purposes, it is the exporting entity that carries legal responsibility. But supply chain transparency that extends to plantation or mine level requires infrastructure investment.

Digital literacy

DPP data entry requires understanding what information is needed, why it matters, and how to enter it correctly. For companies accustomed to paper documentation and PDF certificates, the transition to structured, machine-readable data entry requires training and change management.

Smallholders, small mining operators, and small-scale textile manufacturers face the steepest curve. Industry associations, government agencies, and technology providers all have a role in building this capability.

Cost for SMEs

GS1 registration, DPP software, carbon footprint calculation, and third-party verification have costs that are manageable for large exporters but significant for SMEs. A large nickel mining company can absorb DPP compliance costs as a cost of doing business in EU markets. A small textile manufacturer exporting modest volumes faces proportionally higher costs.

Government support programs, industry collective compliance approaches, and software tools designed for SME cost levels are all part of the solution landscape.

KALIRA's role: DPP infrastructure built for Indonesian industry

KALIRA was built in Indonesia, for industrial companies operating in the Southeast Asian and global context. The platform supports both asset management (tracking physical equipment) and Digital Product Passports (creating compliance records for products sold on EU markets).

For Indonesian exporters preparing for EU DPP requirements:

• GS1-compliant passport generation with GTIN support
• Supply chain data packages that downstream EU customers can pull via API
• Carbon footprint declaration fields aligned with EU Battery Regulation and ESPR data schemas
• Bulk passport generation for high-volume production environments
• IDR pricing for Indonesian companies (Rp 2.249.000/month for the Professional plan)

The February 2027 battery passport deadline is less than a year away. For Indonesian nickel producers and EV manufacturers, the time to begin is now, not after the deadline is announced in Berita Negara.

Start tracking your assets with KALIRA. Free to start.