AI Quick Summary
The environmental impacts related to the use and end-of-life phases of a product remain largely invisible in DPPs due to the lack of real-world lifecycle data. This project explores Digital Wardrobes, where DPPs evolve into dynamic systems connected to a consumer-facing interface. Using a mobile application linked to product identifiers such as QR codes, NFC tags or RFID labels embedded in garments, users can manage their wardrobe while generating real data on usage, maintenance, repair, resale/donation, and disposal. Consumers become managers of product lifecycles, receiving insights on the environmental footprint and guide to expand product life. Simultaneously, anonymized lifecycle data provide brands with valuable feedback to improve circular design and repair services. The hypothesis is that transforming static product passports into consumer-driven lifecycle intelligence systems can make circular fashion measurable, scalable and actionable.
Gap: Current Digital Product Passports (DPPs) cover production and supply chain (cradle-to-gate) but rely on assumptions for the use-phase and end-of-life, leaving a major gap in real-world life cycle assessment (LCA). Recent research shows that current data only supports circularity at the single actor level and does not monitor or improve sustainability at a higher system level [1]. Consequently, the use and end-of-life phases, where significant environmental impacts may arise, remain largely invisible. Transitioning DPPs towards a more dynamic information flow is pivotal in advancing data completeness in DPPs and achieving a more comprehensive understanding of a product's life cycle [2].Proposal: Introduce a Dynamic Digital Product Passport (D-DPP) integrated with a Digital Wardrobe interface for each user, capturing real-time usage, maintenance, repair, resale, and disposal behaviours. Unlike traditional DPP systems, which are primarily accessed by brands or regulators, this approach places the interface directly in the hands of the consumer, who becomes the active manager of the product’s lifecycle through a personal digital wardrobe. The system can be implemented through a mobile application connected to product identifiers such as QR codes, NFC tags or RFID labels embedded in garments, combined with cloud data infrastructures and AI-based analytics capable of interpreting usage patterns and lifecycle events.Value for Industrial Partners: Brands gain actionable post-sale insights to optimize design, circularity, and customer engagement, while maintaining their business model, complying with Swiss and EU regulations, and unlocking new revenue streams in resale, repair, and sustainability services. Access to aggregated and anonymized lifecycle data can also inform product redesign, durability improvements, and the development of repair or maintenance services.Value for Users: Consumers see their wardrobe’s real-time environmental footprint per garment, with recommendations for extending life, repairing, or recycling items, turning passive DPP data into engaged behavioural insights. For example, a consumer scanning a jacket in their digital wardrobe could see how often it has been worn, its estimated environmental footprint, and receive suggestions such as repairing a damaged zipper, reselling the item through a partner platform, or returning it to a brand take-back program. In this way, the digital wardrobe becomes a practical decision tool helping users manage their clothing more sustainably in everyday life.Innovation & Impact: Bridges the gap between static product data and real-world sustainability, creating measurable circularity impact and providing a competitive advantage for brands while aligning with EU Green Deal objectives [3,4] and Swiss sustainability regulations [5]. By transforming DPP data into a consumer-facing lifecycle intelligence system, the project explores how everyday user interactions can generate the real-world data needed to make circular fashion measurable, scalable, and actionable. References: 1. Jensen, S. F., Kristensen, J. H., Adamsen, S., Christensen, A., & Waehrens, B. V. (2023). Digital product passports for a circular economy: Data needs for product life cycle decision-making. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 37, 242-255. 2. Wan, P. K. F., & Jiang, S. (2025). Enabling a dynamic information flow in digital product passports during product use phase: A literature review and proposed framework. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 54, 362-374. 3. European Commission. (2019). European Green Deal. Retrieved April 2, 2026, from https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en 4. European Commission. (n.d.). Circular Economy. Retrieved April 2, 2026, from https://interoperable-europe.ec.europa.eu/collection/rolling-plan-ict-standardisation/circular-economy-0 5. Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN). (n.d.). Circular Economy. Retrieved April 2, 2026, from https://www.bafu.admin.ch/en/circular-economy?utm_source=chatgpt.com#Ecodesign-for-circular-production
Project Idea Description
Gap: Current Digital Product Passports (DPPs) cover production and supply chain (cradle-to-gate) but rely on assumptions for the use-phase and end-of-life, leaving a major gap in real-world life cycle assessment (LCA). Recent research shows that current data only supports circularity at the single actor level and does not monitor or improve sustainability at a higher system level [1]. Consequently, the use and end-of-life phases, where significant environmental impacts may arise, remain largely invisible. Transitioning DPPs towards a more dynamic information flow is pivotal in advancing data completeness in DPPs and achieving a more comprehensive understanding of a product's life cycle [2].
Proposal: Introduce a Dynamic Digital Product Passport (D-DPP) integrated with a Digital Wardrobe interface for each user, capturing real-time usage, maintenance, repair, resale, and disposal behaviours. Unlike traditional DPP systems, which are primarily accessed by brands or regulators, this approach places the interface directly in the hands of the consumer, who becomes the active manager of the product’s lifecycle through a personal digital wardrobe. The system can be implemented through a mobile application connected to product identifiers such as QR codes, NFC tags or RFID labels embedded in garments, combined with cloud data infrastructures and AI-based analytics capable of interpreting usage patterns and lifecycle events.
Value for Industrial Partners: Brands gain actionable post-sale insights to optimize design, circularity, and customer engagement, while maintaining their business model, complying with Swiss and EU regulations, and unlocking new revenue streams in resale, repair, and sustainability services. Access to aggregated and anonymized lifecycle data can also inform product redesign, durability improvements, and the development of repair or maintenance services.
Value for Users: Consumers see their wardrobe’s real-time environmental footprint per garment, with recommendations for extending life, repairing, or recycling items, turning passive DPP data into engaged behavioural insights. For example, a consumer scanning a jacket in their digital wardrobe could see how often it has been worn, its estimated environmental footprint, and receive suggestions such as repairing a damaged zipper, reselling the item through a partner platform, or returning it to a brand take-back program. In this way, the digital wardrobe becomes a practical decision tool helping users manage their clothing more sustainably in everyday life.
Innovation & Impact: Bridges the gap between static product data and real-world sustainability, creating measurable circularity impact and providing a competitive advantage for brands while aligning with EU Green Deal objectives [3,4] and Swiss sustainability regulations [5]. By transforming DPP data into a consumer-facing lifecycle intelligence system, the project explores how everyday user interactions can generate the real-world data needed to make circular fashion measurable, scalable, and actionable.
References:
1. Jensen, S. F., Kristensen, J. H., Adamsen, S., Christensen, A., & Waehrens, B. V. (2023). Digital product passports for a circular economy: Data needs for product life cycle decision-making. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 37, 242-255.
2. Wan, P. K. F., & Jiang, S. (2025). Enabling a dynamic information flow in digital product passports during product use phase: A literature review and proposed framework. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 54, 362-374.
3. European Commission. (2019). European Green Deal. Retrieved April 2, 2026, from https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en
4. European Commission. (n.d.). Circular Economy. Retrieved April 2, 2026, from https://interoperable-europe.ec.europa.eu/collection/rolling-plan-ict-standardisation/circular-economy-0
5. Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN). (n.d.). Circular Economy. Retrieved April 2, 2026, from https://www.bafu.admin.ch/en/circular-economy?utm_source=chatgpt.com#Ecodesign-for-circular-production
The environmental impacts related to the use and end-of-life phases of a product remain largely invisible in DPPs due to the lack of real-world lifecycle data. This project explores Digital Wardrobes, where DPPs evolve into dynamic systems connected to a consumer-facing interface. Using a mobile application linked to product identifiers such as QR codes, NFC tags or RFID labels embedded in garments, users can manage their wardrobe while generating real data on usage, maintenance, repair, resale/donation, and disposal. Consumers become managers of product lifecycles, receiving insights on the environmental footprint and guide to expand product life. Simultaneously, anonymized lifecycle data provide brands with valuable feedback to improve circular design and repair services. The hypothesis is that transforming static product passports into consumer-driven lifecycle intelligence systems can make circular fashion measurable, scalable and actionable.