Contextualizing a process information approach in material passports

Abstract

Information gaps are a key challenge in transitioning to a circular economy, particularly beyond the first use of building products. Material passports could bridge these information gaps by acting as shared information repositories across actors and product stages. However, current material passport research primarily defines product-centric information requirements addressing the here and now, while process-related information to enable future reuse remains less examined. This research developed a stepwise method to identify contextual process information requirements. The method combined a canvas linking process, organizational and information dimensions from the end of use to next use with process modelling. The canvas was tested in a workshop that produced a window maintenance contract case, which was translated into a BPMN process model to derive its information requirements. Their analysis confirmed that across literature and regulations, process information is largely overlooked, a gap that widens towards next use. Overlooked requirements concern capabilities, sequencing dependencies, actors’ roles and agreements. The results suggest material passports should shift from accumulating perishable product descriptions towards sustaining circular models. The maintenance contract case illustrates how service agreements could initiate this shift and keep material passports updated, while the method offers practitioners a way to design circular model adoption.