REVOLUTIONIZING THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY: UNLEASHING THE POWER OF THE DIGITAL PRODUCT PASSPORT (DPP) THROUGH ADVANCED DIGITALISATION
Antares Vision Group has recognized the business opportunity presented by the DPP Digital Product Passport as it aligns with its core mission of enabling businesses to identify, capture, and share accurate product data throughout the supply chain and ensure complete visibility
Did you know that as much as 80% of a product’s environmental impact is determined during the design phase? Were you aware that the global market, with its critical mass consumption, is projected to hit a staggering 190 billion tons by 2060 without urgent intervention?
The linear supply chain and the “extract, make, use, and discard” business model fails to incentivize producers to adopt circular practices. Many products are designed for single use, leading to premature failure and difficulties in reuse, repair, or recycling. This situation has contributed to the global economy being only 7.2% circular.
In response to these challenges, the EU must establish global sustainability standards for products, influencing worldwide product design and value chain management. Under the European Green Deal and the EU Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP), the European Commission proposed the Eco-design for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) on March 30, 2022, aiming to normalize sustainable products in the EU and enhance Europe’s resource independence. The regulation is set for publication in April 2024, complementing existing legislations with similar scope, such as the Packaging and Packaging Waste Framework Directive and the Batteries and Waste Batteries Regulation.
Eco-design for Sustainable Products Regulation key requirements:
- Performance and information standards for greener products
- Addressing the destruction of unsold goods
- Waste prevention and reduction
- Mandatory criteria for green public procurement
- Strengthened market surveillance
- Introduction of a Digital Product Passport (DPP) and new labeling rules
The DPP Digital Product Passport data and system requirements, set by the EC, encompass dynamic digital product sheets, life cycle information access, a global unique identifier, tiered information access depending on the profile of each actor (companies from different segments of the supply chain value, consumers, public authorities etc.), decentralized data systems managed by economic operators, and a central registry/repository implemented by the European Commission.
From linear to circular supply chains:
By law, almost all physical goods entering the EU market must carry a DPP, providing information on repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing, reuse, recovery, or recycling to extend the product life cycle for 40-50 years (with exceptions for food, animal feed, and medicines).
A preliminary study by the Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Commission outlines new product priorities, covering end-use products (Textile, Apparel, Footwear, Furniture, Ceramic products, Tyres, etc.), intermediate products (Iron, Steel, Non-ferrous Metal, Aluminium, Glass, Chemicals, Plastic & Pulp), and products covered by other relevant legislations (Batteries, Construction, Packaging).
This paradigm shift from traditional linear supply chains to circular ones requires different R strategies for each product sector to extend its lifespan. For instance, in the textile sector, a consumer can scan a QR code (or the DPP data carrier) from his mobile to access detailed information about the denim jeans’ origin, composition, sustainability metrics, and recycling before purchasing.
Recognizing the business opportunity presented by ESPR/DPP, Antares Vision Group aligns with its core mission to enable industries to identify, capture, and share accurate product data throughout the supply chain. The DIAMIND integrated ecosystem of solutions empowers DPP as a service in full Trustparency®, providing complete visibility across the entire circular product lifecycle and fostering collaboration among different decentralized systems and stakeholders.
Ultimately, our aspiration is for industries to fully harness the potential of digital product passports, ensuring that accurate information is accessible to the right individuals precisely when needed. This, in turn, should enhance traceability throughout the value chain and significantly diminish the lifecycle environmental impacts of products by implementing advanced digitalisation.