Following the launch of the “ground-breaking” open standard for plastic packaging data, Open 3P, in September 2022, the consortium behind the project has secured additional funding from Innovate UK for Phase 2 work to expand the standard and develop a data-sharing platform.
Dsposal says the Open 3P standard provides a common framework to help all the stakeholders involved in manufacturing, selling and recycling plastic packaging to share data with regulators and government agencies, as well as with each other.
The next phase of the project will see the Open 3P standard being expanded to cover all packaging materials – including glass, metals, paper and wood – as well as the development of a user-friendly, real-time data-sharing platform for the packaging value chain, Dsposal says.
The company continues that the Open 3P development was a collaborative effort between project partners Dsposal, OPRL, Open Data Manchester, RECOUP and Ecosurety. The ultimate aim of the Open 3P is to lower the environmental footprint of plastic packaging, Dsposal says.
Commenting on the launch, Sophie Walker, CEO of Dsposal and Project Lead for the second phase, said: “With the new packaging Extended Producer Responsibility legislation requiring organisations to collect and share more detailed data on the packaging they put onto the market in place from the 1st January 2023, the need for the data standard was clear.
“But it is not just about making compliance and reporting easier and more accurate. Being able to share data across the packaging supply chain supports the broader drive to make packaging more sustainable and increase high quality recycling.
Being able to share data across the packaging supply chain supports the broader drive to make packaging more sustainable.
“In developing Open 3P, we’ve had a lot of support and engagement with organisations ranging from chemical manufacturers to retailers, packaging manufacturers and recyclers.”
Dsposal says the platform will “revolutionise” the way most packaging data is collected and shared by going to the source, speeding up the process and improving accuracy.
Material and packaging manufacturers will be able to upload and share data about their packaging materials, format and components so that retailers, brands and other stakeholders in the value chain can easily analyse, manage and report on their packaging data, Dsposal says.
Taken together, Open 3P and the data-sharing platform will go beyond EPR requirements and, Dsposal says, will help organisations to understand the makeup of the packaging in their supply chain as well as see wider industry trends and patterns.
