Giving Compass' Take:

• Lauren Phipps interviews Kate Daly and Deon Stander about how tracking technologies could provide information throughout a product's journey and in that effect, help bring us closer to a circular economy. 

• How can funders work to advance circular economy practices? What are the barriers to advancing circular economies? 

• Here's how businesses can embrace circular business models.

What role can tracking and traceability play in enabling a more circular economy? Earlier this month, at the GreenBiz 20 conference, I had the chance to discuss the state of technology, the future of connected goods and the potential — and the pitfalls — of traceability within more efficient and circular systems.

I was joined on stage by Kate Daly, managing director of the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners, and Deon Stander, vice president and general manager of retail branding and information solutions for Avery Dennison. The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Lauren Phipps: What will the future of supply chain tracking and product traceability look like?

Deon Stander: We believe that every physical item in the future will have a digital identity. Because of the digital identity, we’re able to connect brands and retailers with individuals through that physical product. And that physical product in itself — because it has a digital identity — will be able to provide information throughout its journey, from the start all the way through to its use at the consumer level, and ultimately to its disposal or reuse in the future.

Phipps: How does this vision map to the aspiration of a circular economy?

Kate Daly: The transition from our current, linear, take-make-waste system, to one that is circular, is so complex and interconnected. Technologies that enable digital identity and material passports are going to be critical to be able to track these materials so that waste remains as a resource and remains in play. We feel a huge sense of urgency around this. If we use apparel as a case study, the issues of overproduction and the inefficiencies in those business models are really contributing to a huge amount of negative impact.

Read the full article about how digital identities could bring us closer to a circular economy by Lauren Phipps at GreenBiz.