Digital passports for second-hand household appliances are emerging to enhance consumer trust and product transparency. Initiated by Fnac Darty and ecosystem in France, these passports provide detailed histories of products, including their origins and maintenance records, accessible via QR codes. This initiative aims to promote repair and durability in line with the AGEC anti-waste law, with plans to expand to all second-hand appliances by 2025. Ultimately, it supports the future implementation of a mandatory Digital Product Passport in the EU.
The Rise of Digital Passports for Second-Hand Appliances
While the second-hand market has gained traction in many sectors, there are still areas where it faces challenges, particularly due to a lack of trust regarding the condition of the products available. Household appliances are a prime example of this issue. How can shoppers be confident that a fridge or oven listed on a platform is truly the age claimed or has been repaired using quality manufacturer parts? Fortunately, advancements in technology now allow for the aggregation of information from various stakeholders involved in a product’s lifecycle, fostering trust and transparency. This is the motivation behind the initiative launched in France by Fnac Darty in collaboration with ecosystem, an organization that oversees the eco-participation fee paid when purchasing electrical appliances for future recycling. Their goal is to equip each product with a digital passport, which enables users to track its history reliably by logging all crucial events and providing insights into its actual condition.
Empowering Consumers and Enhancing Product Longevity
Practically speaking, consumers can easily scan a QR code on either the sales platform or in-store, granting them access to a cryptographic certificate that includes vital details regarding the item, such as its origin, composition, and manufacturing history, prior to finalizing their purchase. “This maintenance passport addresses multiple needs. On one hand, it reassures consumers by providing essential information. On the other, it allows us to deliver content and services aimed at helping them utilize and maintain their products more effectively, thereby extending their lifespan,” explains Vincent Gufflet, Director of Services and Operations at Fnac Darty.
The initiative is open to all industry players—including manufacturers, distributors, repairers, refurbishers, and recyclers—with the hope of fostering a thriving second-life market and promoting repair over simple replacement. The overarching goal is to enhance product durability, a critical concern for the industry, especially in light of the AGEC anti-waste law implemented in 2022. This law aims to mitigate waste and preserve natural resources by extending product life cycles. “The challenge is that this legislation involves a collective of stakeholders who lack unified data about the journey of the products they create or sell. Technology now makes it possible to achieve this transparency and security,” notes Pierre-Nicolas Hurstel, CEO of Arianee, the open-source blockchain protocol that supports these digital passports. These passports can be generated at various stages of a product’s life—during manufacturing, sale, repair, or collection for resale in the second-hand market. Tokenization ensures that all participants—suppliers, producers, and consumers—have secure and transparent access to the entire chain of information.
The rollout of this initiative will be gradual. Initially, Fnac Darty will introduce the first version of the digital passport for 4,000 fridges, tumble dryers, washing machines, freezers, and other household products sourced from the Paris 2024 Olympic Village. These items will be repaired, refurbished, and sold on their 2nd Life Collectors platform and in-store. The digital passport will include the product’s journey from its installation in the athletes’ village to its refurbishment at Darty’s service workshops. It will also feature a maintenance log and the product’s instruction manual, enabling customers to receive notifications throughout the year about necessary maintenance actions to prolong the product’s lifespan.
Looking ahead, Fnac Darty plans to expand the use of this digital passport to encompass all second-hand household appliances by the first quarter of 2025, with a gradual extension to include new or repaired products and other industry participants. “This initiative marks just the beginning of a larger ambition, shared by ecosystem, to establish a solid, collaborative platform accessible to all industry stakeholders,” asserts Vincent Gufflet. Discussions are already in progress with various manufacturers, and “other manufacturers, distributors, and reuse actors have expressed their interest in joining this initiative to collaboratively develop this solution,” adds Nathalie Yserd, CEO of ecosystem.
This forward-thinking initiative lays the groundwork for the forthcoming implementation of the Digital Product Passport (DPP) set to commence in 2027. This passport aims to ensure the digital traceability of products entering the European market, regardless of whether they are manufactured domestically or abroad, ultimately becoming a mandatory requirement for all physical goods.