SwePass – National Platform to Strengthen Traceability in Value Chains

SwePass is a new national platform aimed at strengthening traceability in value chains and helping Swedish industry meet increasing sustainability requirements. The initiative is coordinated by RISE and funded by Vinnova. Axfoundation is participating in two work packages: a textile demonstrator and a policy lab.

SwePass was born out of the Vinnova-funded project Trace4Value, where the need for a national platform was identified. Now, SwePass brings together partners from several different industries to tackle the complex challenge of transitioning to sustainable systems and moving toward climate-neutral and circular production with resource-efficient and resilient value chains. The platform involves stakeholders from the textile, construction, and recycling industries, as well as tech providers, standardization bodies, and academia.

The overarching goal is to position Sweden at the forefront of digitalization, standardization, and sustainable material management. Practical demonstrators, knowledge dissemination, and policy influence are some of the platform’s areas of work.

SwePass connects to several of Axfoundation’s previous initiatives, including ProPare, which piloted product passports, and The Fiber Traceability Initiative, which developed a prototype for traceability in a wool value chain. It is also linked to the newly launched project ReValue, which focuses on reuse and logistics solutions.

The textile demonstrator, in which Axfoundation participates, tests how digital tools and different data carriers for digital product passports, such as RFID, can improve traceability in textile flows and support effective sorting for reuse and recycling.

This work package supports SwePass’s overarching goal of promoting innovation, improving material recycling, and contributing to a circular economy. Actors from across the entire value chain are involved.

– Catrine Marchall, Senior Project Manager at RISE.

In the SwePass policy lab, the focus is on connecting industry needs with upcoming regulations such as the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). Through workshops, dialogue with authorities, and efforts in standardization, the policy lab helps shape policies that both promote innovation and facilitate companies’ transition to circular and traceable business models.

Axfoundation contributes knowledge and experience on business models and data use that enable practical circularity.

We are testing how digital tools can create real value for businesses and society, not just to meet legal requirements, but to accelerate the transition toward more sustainable business models. It’s particularly exciting to gather the entire value chain around concrete tests, where both technology and business perspectives come together.

– Stina Behrens, Project Manager for Future Materials at Axfoundation.

SwePass partners include: ASKET, Axfoundation, Chalmers Industriteknik, Delogue, Filippa K, GS1 Sweden, Helly Hansen, Ragn-Sells, Saint Gobain, and Tomra. The coordinator is RISE.

All partners in the Textile Demonstrator: Asket, Axfoundation, Chromaway, Delogue, Elis Textilservice, Filippa K, Helly Hansen, Human Bridge, J.Lindeberg, Papertale, SML Scandinavia, Ted Bernhardtz At Work AB.

Other national platforms Axfoundation is involved in: SwePass, FibRe, Nordic Wool Initiative, Blå mat, PLATE, and PLENTY. Activities and results are communicated continuously.