will-digital-labelling-drive-up-consumer-recycling?

The European Commission is rolling out digital product passports as a way of informing consumers about the environmental impact of their purchases. Can they be a silver bullet to cut waste and boost recycling?

Initially proposed to track the origin of materials used in the manufacturing of goods, advocates have suggested that the digital product passport could also be used to provide information on how to recycle products and their packaging.

“I think if we move towards this world where we have a digital product passport for every product, then we can also make sure that every product will get back to the waste stream where it belongs,” said German Green MEP Malte Gallée who spoke at a EURACTIV event earlier this week.

This is especially true, he argued, because of Europe’s linguistic diversity. By scanning a code, consumers can access the label in their own language immediately.

“There lie opportunities within this passport that we do not even know about right now,” Gallée emphasised.

Others, meanwhile, argue that digital product passports can only address a part of the EU’s waste problem.

“We have to look from the perspective of all the phases of the life cycle of the product and packaging,” said Anna Larsson from Reloop, a circular economy advocacy group. “We have to have solutions at the level of eco-design” and other stages of production, she argued.

Stefan Sipka, a policy analyst at the European Policy Centre, echoed this concern, arguing that preventing the creation of waste in the first place, as well as investing in improved waste management infrastructure, are also essential.

Waste 3

A single market for waste

Waste management is a national prerogative, with collection and treatment varying greatly among EU countries, regions, and even municipalities.

Luca Ruini, the president of CONAI, a non-profit consortium that advises packaging producers on compliance with regulations, stressed that because practices are so varied, EU policy on waste collection and processing needs to be flexible enough to adapt to local rules.

Different countries have completely different needs and abilities for waste management, he remarked, saying: “It is important that this is respected” otherwise, the good results on recycling shown in some countries could be lost.

However, this diversity also complicates efforts to ensure waste can be traded across borders to be treated or recycled in other EU member states. According to Sipka, greater harmonisation is sorely needed to create a single market for waste across the bloc.

“That will help us create an economy of scale. We need to standardise waste collection and recycling so that the secondary materials will then be improved in their quality and become more competitive compared to virgin materials,” he said.

Gallée disagreed, saying greater harmonisation risks lowering the standards in the most advanced EU countries.

“What we risk if we really push for a single market for waste is basically that we lower our standards, because in some countries they have really high standards,” he said. “So the aim must be to get everybody else to the very high standards, and then we can harmonise the markets”.

Empowering consumers

All concur, however, that consumers must be at the centre of attention. What is less clear, though, is whether consumer information makes a difference when it comes to recycling.

According to Larsson, only “proactive consumers” pay enough attention to seek out recycling information on the label. In Sweden for instance, this policy hasn’t translated into higher recycling rates, she remarked.

The low rate of engagement despite recycling directions on physical packaging brings into question the potential effectiveness of digital product passports, which will require consumers to go through the extra step of scanning a code.

However, panellists at the EURACTIV event remained optimistic that the passport will still help consumers make more sustainable choices, both before and after purchasing products.

“I really like the opportunity the packaging description will give us consumers” to make more informed decisions, Larsson said. For instance, “I would obviously very much like to choose the packaging that has high recycled content,” she remarked.

But communicating more information to consumers will only work up to a point, she admitted. According to her, products overall have to become more sustainable by design so that even disengaged consumers make more responsible purchasing decisions.

> Watch the full recording of the EURACTIV event below:

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