diff --git a/examples/tracing-http-propagator/src/server.rs b/examples/tracing-http-propagator/src/server.rs
index 8060c99841..9bb0a4315d 100644
--- a/examples/tracing-http-propagator/src/server.rs
+++ b/examples/tracing-http-propagator/src/server.rs
@@ -146,7 +146,12 @@ impl SpanProcessor for EnrichWithBaggageSpanProcessor {
         }
     }
 
-    fn on_end(&self, _span: opentelemetry_sdk::trace::SpanData) {}
+    fn on_end(
+        &self,
+        _span: &opentelemetry_sdk::trace::SpanData,
+        _instrumentation_scope: &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope,
+    ) {
+    }
 }
 
 fn init_tracer() -> SdkTracerProvider {
diff --git a/opentelemetry-sdk/CHANGELOG.md b/opentelemetry-sdk/CHANGELOG.md
index e5e4ca3295..3a6a48eca2 100644
--- a/opentelemetry-sdk/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/opentelemetry-sdk/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,8 +5,12 @@
 - Added `Resource::get_ref(&self, key: &Key) -> Option<&Value>` to allow retrieving a reference to a resource value without cloning.
 - **Breaking** Removed the following public hidden methods from the `SdkTracer` [#3227][3227]:
   - `id_generator`, `should_sample`
+- **Breaking** **Performance**: Changed `SpanProcessor::on_end()` signature to accept `&SpanData` and `&InstrumentationScope` by reference ([#3267][3267]).
+  This eliminates unnecessary `SpanData` clones when multiple `SpanProcessor`s are configured. Performance improvement scales with the number of processors.
+  Processors that need to store the data asynchronously should clone it explicitly.
 
 [3227]: https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-rust/pull/3227
+[3267]: https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-rust/pull/3267
 
 ## 0.31.0
 
diff --git a/opentelemetry-sdk/benches/batch_span_processor.rs b/opentelemetry-sdk/benches/batch_span_processor.rs
index 6e90b9a62b..78666c7d14 100644
--- a/opentelemetry-sdk/benches/batch_span_processor.rs
+++ b/opentelemetry-sdk/benches/batch_span_processor.rs
@@ -62,8 +62,11 @@ fn criterion_benchmark(c: &mut Criterion) {
                             let span_processor = shared_span_processor.clone();
                             let spans = get_span_data();
                             handles.push(tokio::spawn(async move {
-                                for span in spans {
-                                    span_processor.on_end(span);
+                                for span in &spans {
+                                    span_processor.on_end(
+                                        span,
+                                        &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default(),
+                                    );
                                     tokio::task::yield_now().await;
                                 }
                             }));
diff --git a/opentelemetry-sdk/src/trace/mod.rs b/opentelemetry-sdk/src/trace/mod.rs
index 585f65f27d..1a838093f8 100644
--- a/opentelemetry-sdk/src/trace/mod.rs
+++ b/opentelemetry-sdk/src/trace/mod.rs
@@ -137,7 +137,11 @@ mod tests {
             }
         }
 
-        fn on_end(&self, _span: SpanData) {
+        fn on_end(
+            &self,
+            _span: &SpanData,
+            _instrumentation_scope: &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope,
+        ) {
             // TODO: Accessing Context::current() will panic today and hence commented out.
             // See https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-rust/issues/2871
             // let _c = Context::current();
diff --git a/opentelemetry-sdk/src/trace/provider.rs b/opentelemetry-sdk/src/trace/provider.rs
index 2b05f89aea..d2bbd55be6 100644
--- a/opentelemetry-sdk/src/trace/provider.rs
+++ b/opentelemetry-sdk/src/trace/provider.rs
@@ -526,7 +526,11 @@ mod tests {
                 .fetch_add(1, Ordering::SeqCst);
         }
 
-        fn on_end(&self, _span: SpanData) {
+        fn on_end(
+            &self,
+            _span: &SpanData,
+            _instrumentation_scope: &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope,
+        ) {
             // ignore
         }
 
@@ -789,7 +793,11 @@ mod tests {
             // No operation needed for this processor
         }
 
-        fn on_end(&self, _span: SpanData) {
+        fn on_end(
+            &self,
+            _span: &SpanData,
+            _instrumentation_scope: &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope,
+        ) {
             // No operation needed for this processor
         }
 
diff --git a/opentelemetry-sdk/src/trace/span.rs b/opentelemetry-sdk/src/trace/span.rs
index 4753650d53..2fe37adb64 100644
--- a/opentelemetry-sdk/src/trace/span.rs
+++ b/opentelemetry-sdk/src/trace/span.rs
@@ -219,24 +219,13 @@ impl Span {
             data.end_time = opentelemetry::time::now();
         }
 
-        match provider.span_processors() {
-            [] => {}
-            [processor] => {
-                processor.on_end(build_export_data(
-                    data,
-                    self.span_context.clone(),
-                    &self.tracer,
-                ));
-            }
-            processors => {
-                for processor in processors {
-                    processor.on_end(build_export_data(
-                        data.clone(),
-                        self.span_context.clone(),
-                        &self.tracer,
-                    ));
-                }
-            }
+        // Build export data once to avoid cloning for multiple processors
+        let export_data = build_export_data(data, self.span_context.clone(), &self.tracer);
+
+        let instrumentation_scope = self.tracer.instrumentation_scope();
+
+        for processor in provider.span_processors() {
+            processor.on_end(&export_data, instrumentation_scope);
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/opentelemetry-sdk/src/trace/span_processor.rs b/opentelemetry-sdk/src/trace/span_processor.rs
index 0ebe80f885..8a385d8d8a 100644
--- a/opentelemetry-sdk/src/trace/span_processor.rs
+++ b/opentelemetry-sdk/src/trace/span_processor.rs
@@ -82,8 +82,14 @@ pub trait SpanProcessor: Send + Sync + std::fmt::Debug {
     /// `on_end` is called after a `Span` is ended (i.e., the end timestamp is
     /// already set). This method is called synchronously within the `Span::end`
     /// API, therefore it should not block or throw an exception.
-    /// TODO - This method should take reference to `SpanData`
-    fn on_end(&self, span: SpanData);
+    ///
+    /// # Parameters
+    /// - `span`: A reference to `SpanData` representing the ended span.
+    /// - `instrumentation_scope`: The instrumentation scope associated with the span.
+    ///
+    /// If the processor needs to handle the export asynchronously, it should clone
+    /// the data to ensure it can be safely processed without lifetime issues.
+    fn on_end(&self, span: &SpanData, instrumentation_scope: &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope);
     /// Force the spans lying in the cache to be exported.
     fn force_flush(&self) -> OTelSdkResult;
     /// Shuts down the processor. Called when SDK is shut down. This is an
@@ -133,16 +139,22 @@ impl<T: SpanExporter> SpanProcessor for SimpleSpanProcessor<T> {
         // Ignored
     }
 
-    fn on_end(&self, span: SpanData) {
+    fn on_end(
+        &self,
+        span: &SpanData,
+        _instrumentation_scope: &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope,
+    ) {
         if !span.span_context.is_sampled() {
             return;
         }
 
+        let span_data = span.clone();
+
         let result = self
             .exporter
             .lock()
             .map_err(|_| OTelSdkError::InternalFailure("SimpleSpanProcessor mutex poison".into()))
-            .and_then(|exporter| futures_executor::block_on(exporter.export(vec![span])));
+            .and_then(|exporter| futures_executor::block_on(exporter.export(vec![span_data])));
 
         if let Err(err) = result {
             // TODO: check error type, and log `error` only if the error is user-actionable, else log `debug`
@@ -526,8 +538,13 @@ impl SpanProcessor for BatchSpanProcessor {
     }
 
     /// Handles span end.
-    fn on_end(&self, span: SpanData) {
-        let result = self.span_sender.try_send(span);
+    fn on_end(
+        &self,
+        span: &SpanData,
+        _instrumentation_scope: &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope,
+    ) {
+        let span_data = span.clone();
+        let result = self.span_sender.try_send(span_data);
 
         // match for result and handle each separately
         match result {
@@ -956,7 +973,7 @@ mod tests {
         let exporter = InMemorySpanExporterBuilder::new().build();
         let processor = SimpleSpanProcessor::new(exporter.clone());
         let span_data = new_test_export_span_data();
-        processor.on_end(span_data.clone());
+        processor.on_end(&span_data, &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default());
         assert_eq!(exporter.get_finished_spans().unwrap()[0], span_data);
         let _result = processor.shutdown();
     }
@@ -980,7 +997,7 @@ mod tests {
             status: Status::Unset,
             instrumentation_scope: Default::default(),
         };
-        processor.on_end(unsampled);
+        processor.on_end(&unsampled, &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default());
         assert!(exporter.get_finished_spans().unwrap().is_empty());
     }
 
@@ -989,7 +1006,7 @@ mod tests {
         let exporter = InMemorySpanExporterBuilder::new().build();
         let processor = SimpleSpanProcessor::new(exporter.clone());
         let span_data = new_test_export_span_data();
-        processor.on_end(span_data.clone());
+        processor.on_end(&span_data, &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default());
         assert!(!exporter.get_finished_spans().unwrap().is_empty());
         let _result = processor.shutdown();
         // Assume shutdown is called by ensuring spans are empty in the exporter
@@ -1192,7 +1209,7 @@ mod tests {
         let processor = BatchSpanProcessor::new(exporter, config);
 
         let test_span = create_test_span("test_span");
-        processor.on_end(test_span.clone());
+        processor.on_end(&test_span, &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default());
 
         // Wait for flush interval to ensure the span is processed
         std::thread::sleep(Duration::from_secs(6));
@@ -1215,7 +1232,7 @@ mod tests {
 
         // Create a test span and send it to the processor
         let test_span = create_test_span("force_flush_span");
-        processor.on_end(test_span.clone());
+        processor.on_end(&test_span, &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default());
 
         // Call force_flush to immediately export the spans
         let flush_result = processor.force_flush();
@@ -1241,12 +1258,15 @@ mod tests {
 
         let record = create_test_span("test_span");
 
-        processor.on_end(record);
+        processor.on_end(&record, &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default());
         processor.force_flush().unwrap();
         processor.shutdown().unwrap();
 
         // todo: expect to see errors here. How should we assert this?
-        processor.on_end(create_test_span("after_shutdown_span"));
+        processor.on_end(
+            &create_test_span("after_shutdown_span"),
+            &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default(),
+        );
 
         assert_eq!(1, exporter.get_finished_spans().unwrap().len());
         assert!(exporter.is_shutdown_called());
@@ -1268,9 +1288,9 @@ mod tests {
         let span2 = create_test_span("span2");
         let span3 = create_test_span("span3"); // This span should be dropped
 
-        processor.on_end(span1.clone());
-        processor.on_end(span2.clone());
-        processor.on_end(span3.clone()); // This span exceeds the queue size
+        processor.on_end(&span1, &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default());
+        processor.on_end(&span2, &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default());
+        processor.on_end(&span3, &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default()); // This span exceeds the queue size
 
         // Wait for the scheduled delay to expire
         std::thread::sleep(Duration::from_secs(6));
@@ -1314,7 +1334,7 @@ mod tests {
             KeyValue::new("key1", "value1"),
             KeyValue::new("key2", "value2"),
         ];
-        processor.on_end(span_data.clone());
+        processor.on_end(&span_data, &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default());
 
         // Force flush to export the span
         let _ = processor.force_flush();
@@ -1345,7 +1365,7 @@ mod tests {
 
         // Create a span and send it to the processor
         let test_span = create_test_span("resource_test");
-        processor.on_end(test_span.clone());
+        processor.on_end(&test_span, &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default());
 
         // Force flush to ensure the span is exported
         let _ = processor.force_flush();
@@ -1380,7 +1400,7 @@ mod tests {
 
         for _ in 0..4 {
             let span = new_test_export_span_data();
-            processor.on_end(span);
+            processor.on_end(&span, &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default());
         }
 
         processor.force_flush().unwrap();
@@ -1403,7 +1423,7 @@ mod tests {
 
         for _ in 0..4 {
             let span = new_test_export_span_data();
-            processor.on_end(span);
+            processor.on_end(&span, &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default());
         }
 
         processor.force_flush().unwrap();
@@ -1430,7 +1450,7 @@ mod tests {
             let processor_clone = Arc::clone(&processor);
             let handle = tokio::spawn(async move {
                 let span = new_test_export_span_data();
-                processor_clone.on_end(span);
+                processor_clone.on_end(&span, &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default());
             });
             handles.push(handle);
         }
diff --git a/opentelemetry-sdk/src/trace/span_processor_with_async_runtime.rs b/opentelemetry-sdk/src/trace/span_processor_with_async_runtime.rs
index b294f74043..98ac62a46d 100644
--- a/opentelemetry-sdk/src/trace/span_processor_with_async_runtime.rs
+++ b/opentelemetry-sdk/src/trace/span_processor_with_async_runtime.rs
@@ -105,12 +105,20 @@ impl<R: RuntimeChannel> SpanProcessor for BatchSpanProcessor<R> {
         // Ignored
     }
 
-    fn on_end(&self, span: SpanData) {
+    fn on_end(
+        &self,
+        span: &SpanData,
+        _instrumentation_scope: &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope,
+    ) {
         if !span.span_context.is_sampled() {
             return;
         }
 
-        let result = self.message_sender.try_send(BatchMessage::ExportSpan(span));
+        // Clone the span data for async processing
+        let span_data = span.clone();
+        let result = self
+            .message_sender
+            .try_send(BatchMessage::ExportSpan(span_data));
 
         // If the queue is full, and we can't buffer a span
         if result.is_err() {
@@ -577,7 +585,10 @@ mod tests {
             }
         });
         tokio::time::sleep(Duration::from_secs(1)).await; // skip the first
-        processor.on_end(new_test_export_span_data());
+        processor.on_end(
+            &new_test_export_span_data(),
+            &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default(),
+        );
         let flush_res = processor.force_flush();
         assert!(flush_res.is_ok());
         let _shutdown_result = processor.shutdown();
@@ -604,7 +615,10 @@ mod tests {
         };
         let processor = BatchSpanProcessor::new(exporter, config, runtime::TokioCurrentThread);
         tokio::time::sleep(Duration::from_secs(1)).await; // skip the first
-        processor.on_end(new_test_export_span_data());
+        processor.on_end(
+            &new_test_export_span_data(),
+            &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default(),
+        );
         let flush_res = processor.force_flush();
         if time_out {
             assert!(flush_res.is_err());
@@ -653,9 +667,18 @@ mod tests {
         let processor = BatchSpanProcessor::new(exporter, config, runtime::Tokio);
 
         // Finish three spans in rapid succession.
-        processor.on_end(new_test_export_span_data());
-        processor.on_end(new_test_export_span_data());
-        processor.on_end(new_test_export_span_data());
+        processor.on_end(
+            &new_test_export_span_data(),
+            &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default(),
+        );
+        processor.on_end(
+            &new_test_export_span_data(),
+            &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default(),
+        );
+        processor.on_end(
+            &new_test_export_span_data(),
+            &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default(),
+        );
 
         // Wait until everything has been exported.
         processor.force_flush().expect("force flush failed");
@@ -690,9 +713,18 @@ mod tests {
         let processor = BatchSpanProcessor::new(exporter, config, runtime::Tokio);
 
         // Finish several spans quickly.
-        processor.on_end(new_test_export_span_data());
-        processor.on_end(new_test_export_span_data());
-        processor.on_end(new_test_export_span_data());
+        processor.on_end(
+            &new_test_export_span_data(),
+            &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default(),
+        );
+        processor.on_end(
+            &new_test_export_span_data(),
+            &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default(),
+        );
+        processor.on_end(
+            &new_test_export_span_data(),
+            &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope::default(),
+        );
 
         processor.force_flush().expect("force flush failed");
         processor.shutdown().expect("shutdown failed");
diff --git a/stress/src/traces.rs b/stress/src/traces.rs
index e0f15099e5..7426c73bda 100644
--- a/stress/src/traces.rs
+++ b/stress/src/traces.rs
@@ -37,7 +37,11 @@ impl SpanProcessor for NoOpSpanProcessor {
         // No-op
     }
 
-    fn on_end(&self, _span: SpanData) {
+    fn on_end(
+        &self,
+        _span: &SpanData,
+        _instrumentation_scope: &opentelemetry::InstrumentationScope,
+    ) {
         // No-op
     }