What about Fred in the shed?

What will digital product passports mean to small-scale or artisanal production? Will it mean anything at all? Or will Fred in the shed go extinct?

Local, small-scale, and artisanal producers have long been at the forefront of eco-design and eco-production, not only in foodstuffs. But are such small-scale businesses capable of documenting and providing the data required to comply with digital product passports if required to? Or will they be overwhelmed and give up?

Or will they be exempt? Looking at the deforestation directive, demands are much lesser on "small and medium-sized businesses", for example?

One option might be an exemption when selling by their own wares, themselves, but having to comply in case selling is done via distributors.

Another option might be some kind of combination with reparation, as that is typically more small-scale than production. As one aspect of the idea of digital product passports is to encourage repairing instead of replacing with something new, maybe there's some ideas about synergy between reparation and artisanal production?

As far as we are aware, this topic hasn't been touched at all in any official communications from either the Commission or the European Parliament but it would be surprising if it hasn't been considered.

Who knows? We don't, but would be very surprised if the topic hasn't been discussed in the EU corridors already.

Do you know what the plans may be?

What do you think?

I wonder what Fred is creating? Or fixing?

Image credits: YakobchukOlena on iStock