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ProPare – a global standard for Digital Product Passports

The upcoming EU legislation will require nearly all products put on the EU market to have a Digital Product Passport (DPP), which is a set of digital data linked to a certain product. The DPP will provide information on product specifics and sustainability performance throughout the product’s life cycle, enabling consumers and businesses to make sustainable choices. The main purpose is to spark sustainable production and consumption, stimulate increased circularity as well as enable traceability and transparency. To accelerate the transition to sustainable development and avoid fragmented solutions, it is important that the passports are based on global standards, and not hampered by private, locked-in, and non-compatible solutions.

The ProPare Solution

The ProPare prototype shows how a global, standardized infrastructure for Digital Product Passports (DPP) could work in practice, using a set of global, open, and competition-neutral standards. With a common language used to identify every single unique product on the market, and a resolver pointing to the right data sources, all actors can access relevant, reliable information in real time, from multiple, decentralized sources. The prototype meets all the basic conditions suggested in the EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and can be used to link all types of data to a product, no matter the industry, company, or product category. It’s good for the planet, businesses, and for consumers.

What's in it for Companies, Decision-Makers, and Technical Service Providers?

Technical Guide

The ProPare Technical Solution Guide for Digital Product Passports aims to give a better understanding of the proposed set-up of the ProPare prototype with the GS1 Sweden Resolver, the Demo-app and Data sources respectively, to achieve the ProPare project goal. Learn more in the guide.

FAQ

What is a Digital Product Passport? Will the law apply to all products? What does a “global and competition-neutral standard’ mean? How does a resolver work? The FAQ provides quick answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about product passports. Read more in the Q & A here.

The ProPare Project

The ProPare project is carried out in broad collaboration between non-profit actors Axfoundation, Ecolabelling Sweden AB, GS1 Sweden and the Swedish Trade Federation, as well as trading companies Ahlsell, Dagab, Mio and technology developer Blue Cromos. Read more about the ProPare project.

Product Passport Terminology

  • Digital Product Passport: A set of digital data that is specific to a product and that is designed to provide all relevant information over the life cycle of the product in order to contribute to more sustainable production and consumption. 
  • Open, global and competition-neutral standard: A standard that anyone may use, and which is designed to function in all parts of the world and where players in all countries can participate in governance of the standard. 
  • Resolver: An IT system that allows verified product data to be transferred in real time from multiple different sources to a large number of recipients, without being compromised along the way. 
  • Demo app: A mobile application designed to create an understanding of how the underlying product passport infrastructure works and how it can be scaled up to comprise more information elements and more products. 

EU’s Digital Product Passport

  • The European Commission has tabled a proposal for Digital Product Passports (DPPs) for almost all products made available on the European market. The product passport aims to increase traceability and support a circular economy by requiring brand owners to share various sustainability data for their products. 
  • Digital Product Passports are a result of the review of the EU Ecodesign Directive, which is a framework directive aimed at improving the environmental performance of products throughout their life cycle. The product passport legislation forms part of the Bill on the Sustainable Product Initiative (SPI), which, in turn, comes under the EU Green Deal – an all-inclusive initiative aimed at creating a circular and sustainable EU. Sweden’s first Circular Economy Action Plan also proposes a digital passport for products. 
  • The legislation is expected to be implemented at the earliest in 2025. 

Contact

General project inquiries:
Viveka Risberg
Project Manager for ProPare and Program Director for Sustainable Production and Consumption at Axfoundation

Technical inquiries /global standards:
Staffan Olsson
Head of Public Affairs, GS1 Sweden

Business and trade inquiries:
Magnus Nikkarinen
Senior Policy Director – Sustainability, The Swedish Trade Association