During the recent Southern Sweden Design Days in Malmö, Superlab showcased a new table and bench set created from construction waste, emphasising sustainable design and circularity.
— We collaborated with (Swedish design brand) Swedese who helped us to manufacture the products and source the waste material from (Norwegian housing developer) Obos. To be able to explain the circular process and how the material tracking of the future works, we added a digital product passport from, and as part of the soft launch of, our new company Circular Link. Our aim was to prove that condemned construction waste can become new salable products on the market. And we did! co-founder and CEO, Niklas Madsen, shares.
The Swedish multidisciplinary, experimental research, and design laboratory Superlab just celebrated its 20th anniversary.
— We elaborate on digital, physical, and mental worlds. We help companies and organisations with strategic transformation so that their brand, products or services are prepared for the future.
”Our Digital Product Passport solution is the gateway to connectivity, compliance, and new circular business models”
You mentioned your new Software-as-a-Service platform Circular Link. What do you do?
— We create digital twins of products and connect them with Digital Product Passports (DPP). This service, primarily aimed at the furniture industry for now, supports the industry’s transition to a circular economy. With our C-tag, we are setting a new standard for product traceability and sustainability. The tag will have an integrated technology that is future-ready. Depending on the placement and on what type of product and material, we have developed different tags that will suit most situations.
— Our Digital Product Passport solution is the gateway to connectivity, compliance, and new circular business models that we hope to launch very soon. We will launch a platform that can host DPPs connected to a digital twin that is fully compliant with the new EU regulations as they evolve. We’re also working on multiple services that can add value to the products and the manufacturer.
— During Southern Sweden Design Days, we showed a taste of what our digital product passports and digital twins will look like when we go to market fully. By scanning the QR code on one of the products, the visitors could experience our C-tag and they were able to access all information and data about the specific product, such as who the manufacturer is, dimensions, and a product sheet. But also, what is most important; the origin of the material and what it contains in each separate component. It is the core of what the EU’s new law will require in the future, that we transparently show what and which materials the various components of the product contain. So after the product’s life cycle is complete, we can reuse the materials again for a new product — exactly what we showed in our recent exhibition.
How was it to develop the DPP solution?
— Well, the digital product passport in itself has been a huge challenge because the European Union has not decided yet. That’s why we had to wait for the market to adapt and mature. But of course, it’s been challenging deciding what to host and what not to host in the digital product passport but now we have a fairly good picture of what is needed.
— It was also challenging to source waste material. The furniture industry, like many others, lacks a mindset geared towards utilising waste materials. We had to explore different industries to find what we needed. This experience highlighted that the real challenge lies in shifting mindsets and educating manufacturers about sustainability. It’s crucial to take responsibility for the materials used throughout a product’s life cycle, ensuring they don’t become waste. This shift requires a fundamental change in how we design and manufacture products.
According to Madsen, more and more interior and design companies are discussing DPP and the upcoming EU regulations. However, although the EU has recently specified future requirements, it remains complex and unclear — and there are still many uncertainties about implementation.
— Many are working in isolation on their own solutions rather than adopting open systems that can achieve the desired results. We started the company and our journey with Circular Link in 2019, anticipating the need for the market to mature. Over the years we have been working closely with different customers in our value chain with a holistic approach, trying to understand their future needs. What we have learned is to succeed; it’s crucial for stakeholders to move beyond isolated solutions and collaborate openly. Only through cooperation can we establish a viable, shared path forward to a more circular economy.
Launching Circular Link took you five years. How will you continue to work with the company?
— We have established a collaboration with a handful of producers with whom we will work closely this fall to refine our platform. This collaboration will provide us with valuable feedback and insights, helping us address any potential issues and adapt to the market better. But, we are already in dialogue with several manufacturers from other Scandinavian countries that are eager to participate as test pilots, so the demand is high which is extremely exciting, says Madsen, continuing,
— After the Southern Sweden Design Days exhibition, we have been contacted by many who ask questions about DPP. Many manufacturers are coming to realise that the adoption of digital product passports is not a question of ’if it will happen’, but more or less when. As regulatory requirements and consumer demand for transparency and sustainability grow, the need for detailed product traceability becomes inevitable. Digital product passports will soon become essential tools for compliance, enhancing product lifecycle management, and fostering a circular economy. Companies that embrace this shift early will be better positioned to meet future market and regulatory demands, ultimately gaining a competitive advantage.
A big stepping stone of this, Madsen describes, is the new ISO standard that Superlab has been involved in developing since one of the co-owners of Circular Link is involved in SIS (Swedish Institute for Standards).
— The new ISO 59000 standard for the Circular Economy provides a comprehensive framework for implementing and maintaining circular economy practices within organisations. It outlines principles and requirements to help businesses transition from a linear to a circular economy, emphasising resource efficiency, waste reduction, and sustainability. The standard aims to support organisations in designing processes, products, and services that prioritise reuse, recycling, and the extended lifecycle of materials, ultimately fostering innovation and environmental responsibility across various industries, he says, adding,
— Many exciting things will happen in the coming years that will change a lot, which is why we are betting extremely hard on this development.