Digital product passport implementation: Key factors and challenges in circular economy of textiles

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School of Business | Master's thesis
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Date

2024

Department

Tieto- ja palvelujohtamisen laitos

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Mcode

Degree programme

Information and Service Management (ISM)

Language

en

Pages

73

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Abstract

The Digital Product Passport (DPP) is a technological proposal for a digital policy tool that gathers data on the value chain, sustainability, raw materials, and safety of products across several sectors. The DPP might also gather data on how products are used, maintained, recycled, and repurposed. This transparency aims to support the circular economy transition, promote sustainable production, open new business opportunities for economic actors, assist authorities in ensuring compliance, and support consumers and end users in making sustainable decisions. The DPP concept has started to gain high attention recently and a multitude of activities by research organizations, policymakers and businesses are in progress. However, there is a lack of industry-specific research about, what kind of effects the DPP implementation would have on the textile value chains that have been identified to be very complex, global, and heterogeneous. This study aims to identify the perceptions and key factors in the DPP implementation specific to the Finnish textile industry. Secondly, it provides a brief overlook of the current status of the DPP development in the EU. To explore the perceptions and key factors in the DPP implementation eight businesses of different sizes and business models were interviewed. Prior to the interviews, a comprehensive literature review was conducted to compare the findings with previous findings of the academic research. As a result, the study finds that a successful DPP implementation by EU policymakers, which considers the business point of view, can lead to a competitive advantage for Finnish textile companies. The perception of the DPP is positive and the expectations towards the increased transparency are high as the DPP is seen as a valuable element to contributing to the Green Transition. Organizational IT skills are considered to be sufficient for the DPP implementation yet concerns about the financial resources and time constraints especially within SME companies were emphasized. Although businesses face versatile challenges in the implementation process, the readiness and willingness of the Finnish textile industry can be an important aspect of the successful DPP implementation.

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Thesis advisor

Penttinen, Esko

Keywords

digital product passport, circular economy, textile industry, sustainability data

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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202408255581

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[gradu] Kauppakorkeakoulu / BIZ