Pangaia partners Eon on eco-first ‘digital passports’
London- and New York-based “materials science” brand Pangaia and US Internet of Things (IoT) platform Eon have collaborated to connect the former’s products to so-called “digital passports”, designed to bolster the brand’s existing circularity and traceability efforts.
Cloud-enabled, scannable QR codes printed on garment care labels gather data throughout each article’s individual lifecycle, giving customers access to product-level information from origin and provenance through production to distribution and aftercare.
Pangaia will be able to update consumers in real time, in line with the ongoing evolution of the brand’s impact reporting. If results of a full life-cycle assessment (LCA) were not available at the time of purchase, for instance, this could be uploaded retrospectively. (Pangaia is currently on track to complete LCAs on 80% of its offering by 2022.)
The collaboration will reportedly leverage Eon’s CircularID protocol - previously described by the company’s director of connected products, Elyse Tosi, as essentially the “language” of connected products - to help track products through resale, reuse and recycling.
A pilot version of Eon’s protocol was previously used in a 2021 version of Stockholm-based Houdini Sportswear’s One Parka.
The digital passports will debut on Pangaia’s Horizon t-shirts, due to launch May 13. With greater visibility around lifecycle data and aftercare recommendations, the brand hopes that shoppers will be encouraged to extend the life of their purchases and, therefore, keep them in circulation for longer.
Chief impact officer at Pangaia, Maria Srivastava, said in a press release: “It is important to us that information on where and how Pangaia products are made is accessible and engaging.
“Taking cues from social media, our new digital passports are putting personalised data around traceability and sustainability at the fingertips of our customers in a fun and interactive way, so they feel empowered to make the best possible choices.
“As well as helping propel us forward on our own circularity journey, we believe that product digitisation is fundamental to driving industry change and accelerating an Earth-positive future - one which gives back more than it takes.”
Image: Pangaia.
