The Digital Product Passport: Scenario-based Recommendations for the Manufacturing Industry

Abstract

The impending introduction of Digital Product Passports (DPP) poses a major challenge for companies across and beyond Europe. The set of regulations, kickstarted by the European Green Deal, will require companies to collect sustainability-related data across the lifecycle of their products – something many of them are currently not capable of. Since the final concept for the DPP is still to be developed, accurate and reliable information is not yet available. This puts companies in a difficult spot: Compliance with many of the anticipated features of a DPP might require significant time, effort and investment. In order to set the required actions into motion, decision makers need a basis for their decisions.This paper uses scenario technique to systematically construct scenarios for the introduction of the DPP in the manufacturing industry. Key factors are identified and prioritised based on their relevance and influence. From there, consistent scenarios are constructed, and recommendations are provided on how industrial stakeholders can deal with possible manifestations of the most important key factors.