How CSOs can leverage digital product passports to achieve circularity

The term “circularity,” like others in the emerging field of sustainability—net-zero and carbon-neutral, to name a few—still exists behind a veil. A hallmark of sustainability ideals, the circular economy is one in which materials and products are used several times over, either via recycling or repurposing, to eliminate needless waste from the supply chain. 

A key factor thwarting the widespread adoption of circular economy principles is that information is not being passed along the supply chain, making it hard for a product's owner to make correct choices about repairing, reusing, or recycling it. But the European Union has a solution: the digital product passport (DPP) – a unique, digital identity for every individual product that can be traced through its production, use, and eventual end-of-life.