QR code, GTIN, EAN — and where DPP fits in
A product usually already carries an EAN barcode or a GTIN. A Digital Product Passport uses the same kind of idea, but is not the same thing. Here's the actual difference.
EAN and GTIN: identifying a product line
An EAN (European Article Number) is a barcode format; GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) is the identifier it usually encodes. Both identify a product line or SKU — a particular model, size, colour — for scanning at a till or in a warehouse. They don't identify one specific physical item, and they don't carry a record that changes over the product's life.
QR codes: a container, not a standard for content
A QR code is just a way to encode a link or data for a phone camera to read — it can point to anything: a menu, a coupon, or a GTIN-based product page. On its own, a QR code says nothing about what data it leads to, which is why two products can both have a QR code and mean completely different things by it.
Where the Digital Product Passport differs
A DPP is not a new barcode format — it's what the identifier (often a QR code, sometimes NFC) leads to: a structured, standardised record for one specific item, covering material composition, origin, ownership and custody history, and end-of-life handling. It builds on the same physical layer as EAN/GTIN and QR, but the record behind it is the actual point, not the code that opens it.
This already exists, item by item
circoola gives every physical item exactly that kind of record: a scannable identity (NFC or barcode), full custody history, live today on lennylamb.com. It's the passport layer that sits behind the code, which is the part a barcode alone never provided.
Building product identity that's ready for more than a checkout scan?
If you're deciding how to identify your products at the item level — not just the SKU level — we'd like to show you what's already running in production.
Get in touch