New industry-wide solution shows how Digital Product Passports can work in practice

Press release 14-03-2023: Within a couple of years, the EU is expected to implement new legislation requiring almost all products on the European market to have a Digital Product Passport. These will provide data on product content and sustainability performance throughout the product’s life cycle, to make it easier for companies, customers, and authorities to make sustainable choices. The ProPare project has now developed a prototype for how Digital Product Passports can work in practice, regardless of product, industry, or user.

“We are pleased to present an industry-wide prototype based on global and competition-neutral standards. Openness and accessibility are central components for Digital Product Passports to be successfully implemented and indeed lead to increased circularity and traceability” – Viveka Risberg, Project Manager for ProPare and Program Director for Sustainable Production and Consumption at Axfoundation.

Behind the competition-neutral digital solution are the non-profit actors Axfoundation, Ecolabeling Sweden, GS1 Sweden, and the Swedish Trade Association. These actors have, within the ProPare project, developed a prototype for an infrastructure showing how a Digital Product Passport can work in practice. How the solution can be used is shown through a demo app that is available in both App Store and Google Play. Corporate partners in the project are representatives from wholesalers, the grocery sector and home furnishing, including the brand owners Ahlsell, Axfood/Dagab and Mio. The demo app has been developed by the technology developer Blue Cromos.

Hundreds of thousands of products are put on the EU’s internal market every year. In the upcoming EU legislation Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), companies will be responsible for making product data available, including information on product content and sustainability performance. Standardized solutions that are easy to implement are therefore needed, according to the actors behind ProPare.

“It is important that the Digital Product Passports are not hampered by locked and non-compatible solutions, or by centralized databases run by public authorities. In the ProPare project, we have built a solution using existing technology in a new way and proved that a global, open infrastructure works for data that is both obtained from brand owners and from third-party certification bodies. We have used the Nordic Swan Ecolabel as an example, but the solution can work for any product data” – Staffan Olsson, Head of Public Affairs at GS1 Sweden.

The introduction of Digital Product Passports on the market opens new possibilities, while also placing several demands on the European business community. Today’s consumers have high expectations for companies to work proactively with issues related to sustainability and circularity.

“Companies now have an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage and future-proof their business by preparing for the upcoming legislation. In addition to speeding up a sustainable transition and benefiting the company, product passports make it easier for consumers and buyers. The main benefit is digital order and structure in the supply chain for quality products with strong sustainability performance.” – Magnus Nikkarinen, Senior Policy Director – Sustainability at the Swedish Trade Association.

• Linda Andersson, Director of Communications, Axfoundation
  , +46 (0) 73-087 15 70
• Viveka Risberg, Program Director for Sustainable production and consumption, Axfoundation
  , +46 (0)72 518 00 95
• Magnus Nikkarinen, Senior Policy Director – Sustainability, The Swedish Trade Federation
  , +46 (0)73 903 53 28
• Staffan Olsson, Head of Public Affairs, GS1 Sweden
  , +46 (0)70 327 70 11