Digital Product Passports: Getting Started with TRUE

Decades of talk about sustainability are being put into practice by the EU's new push for full product transparency: the Digital Product Passport.

For years, people, governments and industry leaders have talked about moving away from the traditional product lifecycle of make > use > discard and towards a circular economy. The EU's coming law on the digital product passport aims to create a digital twin for every product (SKU) and to encourage a cycle of reuse instead of disposal and waste.

But what does the new law involve? And, more importantly, what does it mean for your business?

Like the travel document it is named after, the digital product passport will be a key document that stays with a product for its whole life. Instead of a paper booklet, the DPP will be attached permanently to each product through an NFC chip, a QR code or an RFID tag.

Data collection begins during the product's design phase and records the materials used, where they came from, and where the product was assembled. From there the DPP is updated continuously to track sales, repairs and replacements.

Throughout its life, anyone who handles the product can scan the DPP to reach all of this information, which brings transparency to the product's supply chain and supports sustainable business models.

What data is stored in a digital product passport?

While the EU is still defining the data requirements, some expected entries are:

• Basic product information: name, brand, model, batch number, manufacturing date and warranty details.
• Material information: the origin of the raw materials, the suppliers involved and component details.
• Ownership history: previous and current owners, particularly relevant for products that can be resold.
• Repair records: overall repairability, specific repair events and their causes.
• Sustainability metrics: the carbon footprint of manufacturing, distribution and use.

Who does the digital product passport affect?

The DPP will affect brands and manufacturers considerably, because it requires a deep understanding of their product's lifecycle, from design to recycling.

At first many will need to rethink their processes, but the DPP will give valuable insight into environmental impact, help meet sustainability targets and make premium pricing possible for responsibly made products.

The DPP benefits other stakeholders too:

• Material suppliers: rewarding transparency and security.
• Repair technicians: access to the full repair history for better diagnosis.
• Recyclers: detailed component information for efficient material recovery.
• Governments and public authorities: a new compliance standard to verify against.
• Consumers: the means to make informed decisions and back sustainable practices.

The global impact of the digital product passport

Although it comes from the EU, the DPP will carry influence worldwide. Every product bought or sold on the European market must meet the relevant DPP rules, which makes it a globally relevant standard wherever a product is made or sold.

Where does TRUE come in?

Since we started in 2020, TRUE has built ways for organisations to issue fully customisable documentation automatically, documentation that is not only correct but also impossible to lose, destroy or forge (secured with blockchain). That puts us in a strong position to create any kind of documentation your organisation needs, and we can even tie ownership to the products themselves, which our technology already does for high-end watches, jewellery and art for current customers.

Contact us to book a demo or talk through your needs today!