Unlocking the Sustainable Future: The Power of Digital Product Passports

Digital Product Passports (DPPs) are going to be introduced across the EU in the next couple of years, which is a game changer for sustainable textiles. We’ve been getting deep into the world of product passports over here at Reskinned, and wanted to share the knowledge so you can get as excited as we are. Sharing is caring, you see - especially when it comes to circularity.

You might have heard about clothes getting “lost” around the world after entering into questionable brand-run takeback schemes, or dumped in landfill sites in Africa. Rest assured, that is not something that will ever happen if a brand partners with us.

Product Passports would mean we could track the journey of our clothes, keeping brands accountable for the things they make even when they wash up on a beach halfway across the world.

How will Digital Product Passports (DPPs) Be Used? 

When an item of clothing gets sold, that’s usually where the brand stops knowing about it. Once it’s in our hands as a customer, it’s up to you what you do with it, and how you care for it. Which is great if you know what to do with it, but a lot of the time you’ll end up giving it to a charity shop when you’re done with it, and don’t have a clue what happens next.

Did you know that only around 10 - 20% of secondhand items get resold in charity shops?

When clothes with labels on them end up in landfill or washed up in huge piles on beaches, then they become the brand’s responsibility again, and they’re in charge of fixing that problem. Digital product passports are the solution that’s going to stop clothes ending up in places they shouldn’t. Or make it a lot less common, anyway.

It’s time to become more sustainable - the brands we love know that, and so do we. And a good place to start is in the products we buy. Picking things with a low impact on the environment that do more good than bad. But it can be hard to know which products are actually eco-friendly, and which ones are just very good at greenwashing. Putting product passports on everything will enable us to make clearer decisions about what we buy and the impact that something has.

We’ll be able to go into a shop and find out exactly what something is made from, where it was made, how it was made, and its environmental impact. We’ll even be able to do this when we shop for clothes pre-loved, and we’ll actually be able to see how many people have owned something before us, which is pretty cool.

Digital Product Passports can come in a few different forms. They might be QR codes, RFID or bluetooth tags that are attached to garments. They won’t be noticeable from the outside, don’t worry! Think of them sort of like the care labels inside your clothes.

Why is the EU introducing Digital Product Passports (DPPs)?

Introducing Digital Product Passports puts the pressure on brands to become accountable for their own products, from the moment they’re made, right up until the end of their life. This should mean a massive improvement in the making process. Things will be better made, and last a lot longer, rather than the very fast throwaway fashion we’ve started seeing cropping up.

The fashion industry needs to become more circular, and more sustainable. Requiring product passports will mean businesses are responsible for the environmental impact of their products all through their life.

Product passports will also be a gamechanger in creating transparency, which is really important in creating meaningful change. In fact, it’s pretty much key to making the whole cycle of making and selling clothing a sustainable practice.

There won’t be any space for questionable ethics or morals to be “hidden” from customers. We’ll know exactly who made something, and the conditions it was made in.

And it will help them to design better too, and become so much more sustainable. They’ll have the valuable information about material composition and the raw materials they need to make changes, and so will we.

An example: If a brand can see that everything made of a certain fabric falls apart after six months, they can make sure they use a better quality fabric going forward.

What information will need to be included in a digital product passport (DPPs)?

Not just your bog-standard labels, these contain a huge amount of valuable data. Each individual garment label will include information about the product’s environmental impact, the raw materials that have been used to make it, the supply chains (who’s made which part of it), how efficient the energy usage was, and so much more.

This makes sure sustainability is a central focus from the design process to the disposal of something.

Who’s going to need to use digital product passports?

This is going to be an industry-wide process, so depending on the product category, every brand and company that makes clothes will have to add them into their clothes.

Making it compulsory for everyone to get involved means businesses will be forced to become more sustainable to stay relevant. Because we’re not exactly going to be running to buy from the companies that we know have the worst impact, are we?

For us as consumers, digital product passports are a total game changer. We’d be able to scan a QR code in a shop, and find out if something we’re about to buy aligns with our values.

What Will Change about The End of Life Disposal of Clothes? 

Because brands will have digital passports in place, they'll be more likely to create sustainable solutions to keep their clothes in circulation and out of landfill. We can expect repair based business models to start cropping up - where brands will repair something for you when it gets worn or broken, so it can stay in your wardrobe. Valuable materials will be able to be recycled, and the recycled materials can be made into something new, making the whole thing so much more circular and sustainable.

The key word we’re focusing on here is traceability. By being able to track a product’s journey from beginning to end, we can make sure repair, refurbishing and recycling efforts are prioritised.

The impact has the potential to completely change the industry, and make accountability something the fashion industry is going to have to deal with quickly and effectively.

Imagine being able to actually understand your carbon footprint when it comes to the things you’ve bought and wear. If you understood it, do you think you’d make changes?

Implementing a digital product passport solution represent a huge leap towards a more sustainable and circular economy. With them in place, businesses have the information needed to adopt more environmentally conscious practices, customers can make informed choices about what they buy, and the whole industry will see a transformation.

If you’re ready to shop sustainably right now, check out our best pre-loved pieces and give great clothes a second life now.