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Digital Product Passport Regulations : Sustainability Product Initiative
08 Jul, 2024
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The Sustainability Product Initiative (SPI) is a regulation under the Circular Economy Action Plan that comprises a set of legislative files that aims to promote the circularity of the EU’s economy. The Sustainability Product Initiative is a key building block of the European Green Deal and Digital Product Passports.
Compared to other traditional methods for attaining a circular economy that involve returning products to the supply chain, the SPI comprises more than that. The Sustainability Product Initiative aims to build sustainability across the entire lifespan of the product, right from the design stage.
Revising the success of the 2009 Ecodesign Directive, the Sustainability Product Initiative will extend the minimum sustainability requirements to other sectors instead of just energy-related industries. This means that the products are also repairable and recyclable to ensure sustainability. Thanks to SPI, they are also free of hazardous chemicals.
The Sustainability Product Initiative And DPPs
Due to the rules of the SPI, the initiative will watch over the implementation of Digital Product Passports (DPP). Products on the European market will be designed to be repairable, energy-efficient, recyclable, and free of emissions.
Digital Product Passports will contain information on every product's composition, design, and sustainability information. They will contain information like materials used, chemical properties, and production methods. With the SPI in place, DPPs are set to have a smoother introduction.
The Sustainability Product Initiative is required to create sustainability principles to guide:
- The energy and resource efficiency of the EU
- The durability, upgradability, repairability, and reusability of products
- The recycling process of the Union
- The presence of hazardous chemicals
- Environmental footprints and carbon emissions in the EU
- The remanufacturing and quality of recycling
- Creating incentives for high-sustainability product performance
- Implementation of Digital Product Passports for product information
The implementation of the SPI is intended to cover a wide range of product industries including construction and others involved in the DPP project. Since the scope of the SPI is broader, the European Parliament in the Non-Legislative Own-Initiative Report on the Cicular Economy Action Plan calls for constant life-cycle assessment methods and data collection.
To properly put in place these methods, the SPI must involve the supply chain’s stakeholders. The initiative is to set rules on the specific requirements and environmental concerns of products, while producers will be responsible for recycling and producing circular products.
In addition, the Sustainability Product Initiative is expected to establish intricate rules on the reuse of recycled parts in new products. That way, the European Commission can make sure that there is no hazardous content present in the production processes. What products does the Digital Product Passport’s Sustainability Product Initiative Cover?
Products The SPI Covers
The plan of the European Commission is for the Sustainability Product Initiative to cover the widest range of products possible. However, there are some sectors that have priority over others. Some of these sectors are:
There are many product groups that are involved in the initiative. Hence, the products will be classified into different groups based on their environmental impact and potential for circularity.
Unless the products’ core directives do not sufficiently address sustainability, the SPI will not directly apply to products already covered by existing legislations. If the product’s directives do not promote sustainability, the SPI is allowed to make an intervention.
This means the SPI is far-reaching and can potentially bring about ecodesign requirements that address problematic products like single-use batteries and packaging.
SPI’s Impact On Businesses
The rate at which the SPI will impact businesses depends on the product’s sector and scale. It will largely affect businesses that aren’t really integrated into the circular economy system.
Companies that quickly focus their investments on the methods of design, production, and after-sales service of sustainable products will most likely enjoy the lion's share of the market. The repair and reuse sectors will also greatly benefit from the Sustainability Products Initiative.
SPI’s Relevance To The World
As long as the SPI applies to all major product groups in the European market, its relevance will spread beyond Europe. One of the SPI’s goals is to improve the sustainability of supply chains across the globe.
Due to the SPI’s minimum requirements for products produced and imported into the EU, international manufacturers that want to transact with the EU will have to comply with the regulations of the SPI. Since the EU’s market is very active in the world today, the SPI is bound to have a rippling effect in the global market.
Also, if the European Union is successful in creating a truly circular economy, other countries outside the EU will emulate them. As climate change is an increasingly urgent matter, once the SPI is successful, there will be a significant shift in the way everyone approaches sustainability.
Final Words
The Sustainability Products Initiative is a framework regulation that is set to affect all major product industries in the EU. The initiative consists of various rules and regulations set to drive the European market towards a circular economy.
As a part of the Circular Economy Action Plan, the SPI is one of the necessary building blocks for the implementation of Digital Product Passports.
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