Has your phone fallen one time too many while celebrating the end of yet another lockdown? Have you ever had the sudden urge to upgrade your phone while yours was still working? Have you reached the point where the battery repeatedly fails you at the very worst times? We’ve all been there.
Think about it – how many phones have you bought in your lifetime?
The numbers speak for themselves
6.7 phones are sold every second in Europe. The average smartphone lasts about three years; advertising and the constant search for innovation contribute to reducing this lifespan even more. Now keep that number in mind, and think about this: producing the average smartphone generates 85 kg of waste and 55 kg of carbon emissions. It also generates health hazards, environmental pollution all the while also depleting natural resources.
And that’s even before you hold the phone in your hands. What about once you throw it out? Only 35% of e-waste is collected and treated properly in the EU, leaving the remaining 65% to be discarded in landfills or forgotten in our cupboards.
Seems like there’s an issue here don’t you think? To address this problem, the European Commission is exploring different ways of increasing transparency between companies and customers. In its Sustainable Products Initiative — currently open for consultations — the European Commission suggested the creation of the Digital Product Passport. The Digital Product Passport would be an online portal on which anyone could access compiled information on the sustainability of products, targeted at both industries and consumers.
How would the Digital Product Passport work?
Have you ever used Yuka or Clear Fashion? They are smartphone applications thanks to which, when you scan a product’s barcode, you have access to information on the components and the social and environmental impacts of the product. Picture the same idea for the Digital Product Passport, but with a slightly more straightforward design and managed by the European Commission — at least in the beginning. The Digital Product Passport would provide the key supply chain actors, such as producers and consumers, with information on the extent to which the given products are managed sustainably. A more ambitious Passport would also include information on a product’s full environmental footprint, or the social conditions of the production along the value chain. Although it would be first applied to a restricted set of products, the Digital Product Passport could potentially be expanded to a wider range. The first step is expected to focus on electronic devices, due to their significant environmental footprint and their high potential for a more circular economy.
Benefits for the people and the planet
By requiring companies to disclose information about the sustainability of their products, the Digital Product Passport could push them to adopt greener and fairer practices. Similar changes can already be observed, as more consumers use mobile applications monitoring products’ sustainability. Following the increasing use of Yuka by its consumers, the French supermarket Intermarché has changed the composition of several hundreds of its products in order to prevent its consumers from opting for better-rated alternatives.
In addition, the Digital Product Passport could also be key to reducing the price of products. Increasing circularity in the industry could reduce the price of electronic devices by about 10% as for some components recycling is less expensive than extracting and shipping raw materials. This is especially relevant as prices might increase in the long run because of resource depletion.
How can you advocate for an ambitious Digital Product Passport?
A public consultation on the Sustainable Products Initiative is currently underway, with the aim of adopting such legislation by the end of 2021. Considering the size and the impact of such a project, we want the youth to weigh in on the design of the Digital Product Passport.
We want to relay the growing concern for our future and advocate for what matters to young people. That’s why we want you to tell us what is important to you! What do you want to know when you are choosing your next phone or your new laptop? Do you want more transparency and circularity?
Show your concern and help us fight for an ambitious Digital Product Passport and a greener Europe, by filling out our survey by the 4th of June 2021!
