Empowering Consumers Through Digital Product Passports

"Knowledge is Power"

We've all heard this old proverb, sometimes attributed to Francis Bacon, sometimes to the old Romans. Irrespective of who said it first, we're all aware of the power of knowledge – if we transform that knowledge into action, that is.

Transfer of knowledge transfers power

The Digital Product Passport Regulation (DPP) is basically about transferring knowledge from producers to consumers, through transparency about circularity and environmental impact of products sold in the European Union.

Today, only producers have the full picture of the sustainability of their products. Consumers have to satisfy with what producers choose to reveal and what authorities force them to reveal. Plus the revelations of the occasional investigative journalist.

Or do they really? Looking at reactions from producers it's hard not to get the impression that they don't. Why not, you may ask. A fair guess could be "because nobody powerful enough have asked for it." Simply, they haven't had to. Focus has been on price, performance and how long products will last, not on their cost for our planet, their environmental performance or how they impact longevity and quality of life.

With DPP, producers and retailers will be compelled to supply facts about sustainability and circularity of the products they sell, easily accessed by scanning a code and in clear and standardised ways.

Goodbye greenwashing.

The information is supposed to cover the entire life-cycle of the products. Tracing the journey from sourcing of raw materials, production, transport to disposal, including information on repairing and reusing.

Additionally, DPP's are supposed to include certificates of ethical work practices and sourcing.

It's not just about having power, but about using it

Just like the power of a battery, it's not until it's put to action that the value is realised.

The other source of power with consumers is in our wallets. It's when our newly gained knowledge from DPP's starts guiding our purchasing decisions that the power is released. When we start choosing products with lower carbon footprints, easier to repair or recycle, more ethically produced, THAT IS when things start to happen.

When sufficient numbers of consumers change their purchasing behaviours to favour products with better sustainability, producers will start modifying designs and production methods to avoid losing sales. As intended by the EU regulators. After all, Digital Product Passports are part of the ESPR, Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation.

Money talks.

With power comes responsibility

With the transfer of DPP knowledge to us as consumers, we will also carry the burden of responsibility of absorbing and using that knowledge. It will be up to us to check DPP's and to modify our purchasing habits to suit.

It will be up to us to scan, to compare, to contemplate and to choose wisely.

Will you be prepared to switch your favourite brand to something similar but more sustainable?

"Save the planet" it says on the label. Let's see if there's any substance behind that claim?

Image by BlackSalmon on iStock