How are we supposed to find our way back to the DPP post purchase?

Why access the DPP once we have made our purchase?

In last week's blog post we highlighted our impression that, while the information intended to be provided by DPP's is supposed to cover the entire lifetime of an item, the focus of the method of access is purely on the initial purchase.

We pointed to a number of occasions during the lifetime of a product when it will be essential to be able to find your way back to the DPP data, several of which are stated in the DPP regulation, while some were hypothesised by us.

Here we focus on potential ways to preserve access to DPP's of products for later use, and reason about their strengths and weaknesses.

We're pretty confident that you agree with us that storing packages to keep the QR codes "just in case" isn't really an option.

The QR code is the key, but will we throw away "the key" with the package?

The physical representation of the DPP is usually talked about as a QR code that you scan to access the DPP.

But if that QR code is only accessible on the package which we most likely will dispose of shortly after purchase, we need some kind of back-up.

QR code on the product itself?

An obvious idea would be to add a QR code on the actual product. But will that work? For everything?

• That would mean an extra item to produce and adhesive to make it stick which would be counterintuitive to an environmental initiative like DPP

• Is it at all possible to put a label on all products?

• Will consumers appreciate having a QR code on their stuff? (thinking of the small labels often put on glasses that many consumers put great effort in removing, for example)

• Will producers, who have spent great effort on sleek and minimalistic design, happily downgrade it with QR codes (think Apple for example)

A "DPP library" by producers?

You could imagine producers publishing some kind of online library of all DPP's or QR codes for all their products, but that would quickly become humongous and challenging to navigate.

Especially when you take into account that similar-looking products may well end up with different DPP's depending on changes made in production processes or in components or composition, changes that are invisible on the outside of the finished product. Can we expect consumers to remember exactly when and where we bought each and every item?

A personal "DPP library" for consumers?

Still a challenge, but maybe more feasible, would be creating a possibility for consumers to save all (or some?) of the DPP's they have scanned. That would remove the complexity of finding exactly the DPP version relevant for your purchase. But with it comes other challenges to handle:

Automatic or selective?

Should all scans be saved automatically, supposedly together with time and location stamps to make them easier to retrieve? Or should saving be an active action by consumers? They decide which items to save? That would drastically cut the volumes of items to register and handle. But it would also create a risk of later wanting DPP data for something you failed to save.

What about items we just buy, without scanning?

Maybe a minor issue, but it is highly unlikely that we will scan the DPP-codes of ALL our purchases. There is a risk that we will later want to find the DPP info of something we didn't scan. Maybe most probably when it's time for disposal and we want to know how to do it properly.

Where to save the scanned DPP's? Integrity!

Should such a "personal DPP library" be saved in your personal DPP-app, to a dedicated DPP-library-app or in a public repository (to minimise the risk of loss, perhaps)?

Each approach would require creating some kind of DPP-library account with all associated risks of getting locked out through login failures and – maybe more severe – issues regarding integrity and security. AN integrity breach could reveal a great deal about your consumption habits and ownership of potentially valuable items.

As stated earlier, we have no answers on this, but realise that it is a topic that will need attention. Otherwise the DPP regulation will only become a "purchasing support" but miss out on most of the circular intentions of the regulation.

What do you think?

Is any of our ideas viable? Do you have any other suggestions?

Where am I supposed to hide all those empty packages, only to be able to access the DPP some day when I might need it?

Image by andresr on iStock