End of Life Directive

Abstract

Disclosed are methods, apparatus, systems, and end-of-life directives configured to control one or more end-of-life products and recover at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products, as well as chemical products associated with the end-of-life directives configured to control one or more end-of-life products for the recovery of at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products, directive consumption services configured to control one or more end-of-life products for the recovery of at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products, directive provision services, data provision services, and data consumption services.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] Technical Field Disclosed are methods, apparatus, systems, and end-of-life directives configured to control one or more end-of-life products and recover at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products, as well as chemical products associated with the end-of-life directives configured to control one or more end-of-life products for the recovery of at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products, directive consumption services configured to control one or more end-of-life products for the recovery of at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products, directive provision services, data provision services, and data consumption services. [Background technology]

[0002] Technical background Chemical products are used in a variety of applications and ultimately end up in multiple supply chains. End-of-life products that contain chemical products are not readily available to chemical manufacturers.

[0003] This prevents the re-supply of used products to chemical manufacturing and the creation of circular value chains. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0004] overview In one aspect, disclosed is a method for controlling one or more end-of-life products to recover at least one chemical material from said one or more end-of-life products, wherein the one or more end-of-life products are manufactured based on at least one chemical product, the method comprising: providing at least one end-of-life directive associated with the chemical product based on at least one end-of-life trigger, the at least one end-of-life trigger being associated with the at least one chemical product and at least one chemical product identifier; generating control data associated with the recovery of at least one chemical material from one or more end-of-life products manufactured based on the at least one chemical product based on at least one end-of-life directive; and providing control data to initialize a process for recovery of the chemical material.

[0005] In another aspect, disclosed is a method for controlling one or more end-of-life products to recover at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products, wherein the one or more end-of-life products are manufactured based on the at least one chemical product, and the one or more end-of-life products are controlled via peer-to-peer communication between computing nodes of a distributed network, the method comprising: providing at least one end-of-life directive associated with a chemical product based on at least one end-of-life trigger provided by one or more computing nodes of the distributed network, the at least one end-of-life trigger being associated with at least one chemical product and at least one chemical product identifier; generating, by one or more computing nodes, distributed network control data associated with recovery of at least one chemical material from one or more end-of-life products manufactured based on the at least one chemical product based on at least one end-of-life directive; Providing control data to one or more computing nodes of the distributed network, the computing nodes configured to initiate a process for recovering the chemical material.

[0006] In another aspect, disclosed is an apparatus for controlling one or more end-of-life products to recover at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products, wherein the one or more end-of-life products are manufactured based on the at least one chemical product, the apparatus comprising: providing at least one end-of-life directive associated with the chemical product based on at least one end-of-life trigger, the at least one end-of-life trigger being associated with the at least one chemical product and the at least one chemical product identifier; generating control data associated with the recovery of at least one chemical material from one or more end-of-life products manufactured based on the at least one chemical product based on at least one end-of-life directive; The system is configured to provide control data to initialize a process for the recovery of the chemical material.

[0007] In another aspect, disclosed is an apparatus for controlling one or more end-of-life products to recover at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products, wherein the one or more end-of-life products are manufactured based on the at least one chemical product, the one or more end-of-life products are controlled via peer-to-peer communication between computing nodes of a distributed network, the apparatus comprising: providing at least one end-of-life command associated with the chemical product based on at least one end-of-life trigger provided by one or more computing nodes of the distributed network, the at least one end-of-life trigger being associated with the at least one chemical product and at least one chemical product identifier; generating, by one or more computing nodes, distributed network control data associated with the recovery of at least one chemical material from one or more end-of-life products manufactured based on the at least one chemical product based on at least one end-of-life directive; providing control data to one or more computing nodes of the distributed network, the computing nodes configured to initiate a process for recovering the chemical material;

[0008] In another aspect, disclosed is an apparatus for controlling one or more end-of-life products to recover at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products, wherein the one or more end-of-life products are manufactured based on the at least one chemical product, the apparatus comprising: one or more computing nodes; and one or more computer-readable media that, when executed by the one or more computing nodes, cause the apparatus to: providing at least one end-of-life directive associated with the chemical product based on at least one end-of-life trigger, the at least one end-of-life trigger being associated with the at least one chemical product and at least one chemical product identifier; generating control data associated with the recovery of at least one chemical material from one or more end-of-life products manufactured based on the at least one chemical product based on at least one end-of-life directive; and one or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions thereon configured to cause the system to perform the steps of: providing control data to initialize a process for recovery of chemical materials.

[0009] In another aspect, disclosed is an apparatus for controlling one or more end-of-life products to recover at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products, wherein the one or more end-of-life products are manufactured based on the at least one chemical product, the one or more end-of-life products are controlled via peer-to-peer communication between computing nodes of a distributed network, the apparatus comprising: one or more computing nodes; and one or more computer-readable media that, when executed by the one or more computing nodes, cause the apparatus to: providing at least one end-of-life directive associated with a chemical product based on at least one end-of-life trigger provided by one or more computing nodes of the distributed network, the at least one end-of-life trigger being associated with at least one chemical product and at least one chemical product identifier; generating, by one or more computing nodes, distributed network control data associated with recovery of at least one chemical material from one or more end-of-life products manufactured based on the at least one chemical product based on at least one end-of-life directive; providing control data to one or more computing nodes of a distributed network, the computing nodes being configured to initialize a process for recovering chemical materials; and one or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions thereon configured to cause the process to be performed.

[0010] In another aspect, disclosed is a system for controlling one or more end-of-life products to recover at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products, wherein the one or more end-of-life products are manufactured based on the at least one chemical product, and the system includes: an apparatus for controlling one or more end-of-life products to recover at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products; a plant operator of a chemical and / or physical processing plant, optionally configured to receive the control data and initialize a process for recovering chemical materials, the chemical and / or physical processing plant operator may be associated with a chemical product manufacturer; and Optionally, a chemical and / or physical processing plant for processing the end-of-life product or a portion thereof to recover chemical materials, the chemical and / or physical processing plant being associated with the chemical product manufacturer.

[0011] In another aspect, disclosed is a system for controlling one or more end-of-life products to recover at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products, wherein the one or more end-of-life products are manufactured based on the at least one chemical product, and the system includes: a trigger provider configured to generate at least one end-of-life trigger based on at least one end-of-life event associated with one or more end-of-life products, the at least one end-of-life trigger being associated with at least one chemical product and at least one chemical product identifier; a directive provider configured to provide at least one end-of-life directive associated with the chemical product based on at least one end-of-life trigger; a command executor configured to generate, based on the at least one end-of-life command, control data associated with the recovery of at least one chemical material from one or more end-of-life products manufactured based on the at least one chemical product; a control data provider configured to provide control data to initialize a process for recovering the chemical material; a plant operator of a chemical and / or physical processing plant, optionally configured to receive the control data and initialize a process for recovering chemical materials, the chemical and / or physical processing plant operator may be associated with a chemical product manufacturer; and Optionally, a chemical and / or physical processing plant for processing the end-of-life product or a portion thereof to recover chemical materials, the chemical and / or physical processing plant being associated with the chemical product manufacturer.

[0012] In another aspect, disclosed is an end-of-life directive configured to control one or more end-of-life products for recovery of at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products according to the methods disclosed herein or by the devices or systems disclosed herein.

[0013] In another aspect, disclosed are one or more chemical products associated with at least one end-of-life directive configured or used to control one or more end-of-life products for recovery of at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products according to the methods disclosed herein or by the devices or systems disclosed herein.

[0014] In another aspect, disclosed is a system including one or more chemical products and at least one end-of-life directive configured or used to control the one or more end-of-life products for recovery of at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products according to the methods disclosed herein or the apparatus or systems disclosed herein, wherein the chemical products are associated with the at least one end-of-life directive.

[0015] In another aspect, disclosed is a command consuming and / or command providing service configured to control one or more end-of-life products for the recovery of at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products according to the methods disclosed herein or the devices or systems disclosed herein.

[0016] In another aspect, disclosed is a command consumption service configured to generate at least one end-of-life trigger and / or receive at least one end-of-life command based on the at least one end-of-life trigger, wherein the at least one end-of-life trigger and / or the at least one end-of-life command may be configured or used to control one or more end-of-life products for recovery of at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products according to the methods disclosed herein or the devices or systems disclosed herein.

[0017] In another aspect, disclosed is a command providing service configured to receive at least one end-of-life trigger from a command consuming service and / or transmit at least one end-of-life command based on the at least one end-of-life trigger to the command consuming service configured to control one or more end-of-life products for recovery of at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products according to a method disclosed herein or an apparatus or system disclosed herein.

[0018] In another aspect, disclosed is a command providing service configured to provide end-of-life commands or a command consuming service configured to consume end-of-life commands, wherein at least one end-of-life trigger and / or at least one end-of-life command may be configured or used to control one or more end-of-life products for recovery of one or more chemical materials from the one or more end-of-life products according to the methods disclosed herein or the devices or systems disclosed herein.

[0019] In another aspect, disclosed is a data providing or consuming service configured to control one or more end-of-life products to recover at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products according to the methods disclosed herein or the devices or systems disclosed herein.

[0020] In another aspect, disclosed is the use of control data provided according to the methods disclosed herein or by the apparatus or systems disclosed herein to recover chemical materials and / or resupply chemical materials to one or more chemical manufacturing processes.

[0021] In another aspect, the present disclosure relates to a computer element, such as a computer program or computer-readable medium having instructions configured, when executed on one or more computing nodes of a distributed network, to perform the steps of the methods disclosed herein or to be executed by the devices or systems disclosed herein.

[0022] All disclosures, embodiments, and examples described herein relate to the methods, systems, devices, chemical products, chemical product passports, end-of-life directives, consumption services, provision services, and computer elements described above and below. Advantageously, the benefits provided by any of the embodiments and examples apply to all other embodiments and examples as well.

[0023] Embodiment To improve the resupply of used products into chemical production networks, products with valuable chemical content may be tracked and traced through a decentralized network. End-of-life directives have been proposed to ensure appropriate end-of-life products or their components are used and resupplied into the chemical infrastructure. End-of-life directives may be provided to end-of-life product users through a decentralized network. In this way, the end-of-life process, from collection of end-of-life products to processing the end-of-life products and reusing chemical materials, may be controlled by chemical producers to ensure the resupply of chemical materials into their chemical production chains. Circular value chains may be enabled to reduce the environmental impact of material flows.

[0024] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be outlined by way of examples. It goes without saying that the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments and / or examples.

[0025] The chemical product may be manufactured by a chemical product manufacturer. The chemical product may be the physical entity of the manufactured chemical product. Chemical product data, particularly one or more end-of-life directives, may be associated with the chemical product. The chemical product data may, for example, relate to a digital twin of the chemical product including one or more end-of-life directives. The chemical product data may be collected before, during, or after the manufacture of the chemical product. The chemical product data, particularly one or more end-of-life directives, may be generated by the chemical product manufacturer. The chemical product data may be associated with the manufactured chemical product or characteristics of the manufactured chemical product. The chemical product data, particularly one or more end-of-life directives, may be provided for access via the distributed network by a participating node associated with the chemical product manufacturer. The chemical product data, particularly one or more end-of-life directives, may be provided for access via the distributed network by a data provision service of the chemical product manufacturer.

[0026] A chemical product may be used to manufacture a product. A product manufactured using a chemical product may be an intermediate product or a final product. A product may be manufactured through manufacturing that includes one or more intermediate manufacturing steps. A product may be used throughout the product lifecycle. A chemical product, an intermediate product, and / or a final product may be associated with one or more decentralized identifiers that represent a digital twin of a physical entity of such product entity. The decentralized identifier may be a digital identifier of or for a decentralized network. The decentralized identifier may be a digital identifier provided to the decentralized network and to computing nodes associated with participants of the decentralized network. The decentralized identifier may therefore represent the physical entity of the product for participating nodes of the decentralized network. The decentralized identifier may be linked according to the use of the physical product entity in the manufacturing chain of at least one final product.

[0027] The decentralized identifiers may be linked according to the physical relationships of the physical product entities used to produce the final product. In this manner, participating nodes of the decentralized network may be able to interpret the relationships of the decentralized identifiers as corresponding to the physical relationships of the physical product entities.

[0028] The end-of-life product may be manufactured based on at least one chemical product. The end-of-life product may contain at least one chemical product. The end-of-life product may be a final product used during the life cycle of the final product. The end-of-life product may be associated with one or more decentralized identifiers representing product entities used to manufacture the final product. The end-of-life product may be associated with one or more decentralized identifiers representing at least one chemical product used to manufacture the final product. The end-of-life product may be associated with one or more end-of-life directives regarding the recovery of chemical materials from the end-of-life product.

[0029] At least one chemical material may be recovered from one or more end-of-life products. For recovery, the end-of-life product may be at least partially broken down into its chemical and / or physical components. The end-of-life product or portions thereof may be recovered and / or sorted. The end-of-life product or portions thereof may be chemically and / or physically processed. The end-of-life product or portions thereof may be chemically and / or physically processed to produce chemical materials that may be re-fed into a chemical manufacturing process. The process for recovering chemical materials may include multiple steps, such as collecting, sorting, transporting, storing, returning, or processing the end-of-life product or portions thereof. The process for recovering chemical materials may include returning the end-of-life product or portions thereof. The process for recovering chemical materials may include chemically and / or physically processing the end-of-life product or portions thereof.

[0030] In one embodiment, the chemical material comprises one or more chemical compounds, chemical constituents, or chemical compositions produced from the end-of-life product or portion thereof. The chemical material may be recovered from the end-of-life product or portion thereof.

[0031] A chemical material may be traced back to a chemical product used to manufacture an end-of-life product or part thereof. The manufacturing chain that manufactures an end-of-life product or part thereof may include at least chemical products manufactured by a chemical manufacturer and chemical products used to manufacture a final product. The life cycle chain of a final product may include its use up to its end of life. A chemical material may be a compound, chemical component, or chemical composition recovered from an end-of-life product.

[0032] In another embodiment, the chemical material comprises one or more chemical compounds, chemical constituents, or chemical compositions suitable for producing at least one chemical product. The chemical material may be an output product of a chemical and / or physical treatment process of an end-of-life product or part thereof. The chemical material may comprise or be the original chemical product compound, constituent, or composition. The chemical material may therefore be chemically equivalent to a chemical product. The chemical material may comprise the original compound, constituent, or composition used to produce a chemical product. The chemical material may therefore be used to synthesize a chemical product. The chemical material may comprise one or more sub-compounds, sub-constituents, or sub-compositions. The chemical material may comprise one or more reaction products of the (sub)compounds, (sub)constituents, or (sub)compositions of a chemical product. The chemical material may therefore comprise a reaction component used to produce a chemical product. The chemical material may comprise or be a chemical precursor for producing a chemical product. The chemical material may also be a chemical mixture.

[0033] In another embodiment, the at least one end-of-life trigger is associated with at least one decentralized identifier associated with a chemical product used to produce or included in the end-of-life product. The at least one end-of-life trigger may include at least one decentralized identifier associated with a chemical product used to produce or included in the end-of-life product.

[0034] At least one end-of-life trigger may be based on an end-of-life event, which may include, but is not limited to, detecting an end-of-life condition via a sensor, detecting an end-of-life condition through an interaction with the end product or an end-of-life product user, identifying an end-of-life condition by metadata associated with the end-of-life product such as location, or identifying an end-of-life condition by a predefined condition such as timing.

[0035] The decentralized identifier may be uniquely associated with a chemical product or a physical entity of the chemical product, such as a packaged product for transport to a consumer. The decentralized identifier may be connected to a digital representation of chemical product data, in particular one or more end-of-life directives. The data related to the chemical product data may include one or more digital representations pointing to the chemical product data or portions thereof, in particular one or more end-of-life directives. The digital representation may comprise at least one interface to a data providing service of the chemical product manufacturer. The digital representation may further include at least one interface to a data consuming service of the chemical product manufacturer. It may include endpoints for data exchange or sharing (resource endpoints) or endpoints for service interaction (service endpoints), uniquely identified via a data transaction protocol including authentication and / or authorization mechanisms. The digital representations pointing to the chemical product data or portions thereof, in particular one or more end-of-life directives, may be uniquely associated with the decentralized identifier associated with the chemical product.

[0036] During the end-of-life phase, the at least one end-of-life trigger may be generated by a trigger provisioning service associated with a user of the end-of-life product. A computing node configured to provide the trigger provisioning service may be associated with the user of the end-of-life product as a participant of the distributed network. During the end-of-life phase, the at least one end-of-life trigger may be provided to a trigger consumption service associated with a chemical product manufacturer. A computing node configured to provide the trigger consumption service may be associated with the chemical product manufacturer as a participant of the distributed network.

[0037] In another embodiment, at least one end-of-life directive associated with a chemical product used to manufacture or included in an end-of-life product is provided with respect to at least one decentralized identifier associated with the chemical product used to manufacture the end-of-life product. The decentralized identifier associated with a chemical product used to manufacture or included in an end-of-life product may be linked to or fixed by a decentralized identifier associated with the final product or end-of-life product. The decentralized identifier associated with a chemical product used to manufacture the end-of-life product may be linked to a decentralized identifier associated with the final product or end-of-life product. The decentralized identifier associated with a chemical product used to manufacture the end-of-life product may be linked to a decentralized identifier associated with the final product or end-of-life product at the time of manufacture or provision of the final product. The decentralized identifier associated with the end-of-life product may be associated with a physical identifier connected to the end-of-life product, for example, via a QR code or RFID tag.

[0038] The at least one end-of-life directive may be configured to initialize a process for recovering the chemical material. The at least one end-of-life directive may be used to generate control data by providing or fetching the control data from a computing node associated with the chemical manufacturer or by identifying the control data based on an end-of-life directive provided by a computing node associated with the chemical manufacturer. Initializing the process for recovering the chemical material may include generating and / or providing the control data.

[0039] At least one end-of-life directive associated with the chemical product may be provided via the distributed network from a directive providing service associated with a chemical product manufacturer. At least one end-of-life directive associated with the chemical product may be provided via the distributed network to a directive consuming service associated with an end-of-life product user. At least one end-of-life directive associated with the chemical product may be provided via the distributed network to a directive consuming service associated with any user subsequent to the end-of-life product user in a process for recovering chemical materials.

[0040] In another embodiment, the at least one end-of-life directive associated with the chemical product is provided in response to providing an end-of-life trigger to an end-of-life manufacturer, an end-of-life user, or a directive providing service associated with the end-of-life product user. Additionally or alternatively, the at least one end-of-life directive associated with the chemical product may be provided from an end-of-life manufacturer, an end-of-life user, or a directive providing service associated with the end-of-life product user via a distributed network.

[0041] In another embodiment, the at least one end-of-life command associated with the chemical product is provided in response to providing an end-of-life trigger to a command providing service associated with the chemical product manufacturer. Additionally or alternatively, the at least one end-of-life command associated with the chemical product may be provided from a command providing service associated with the chemical product manufacturer via a distributed network.

[0042] In another embodiment, at least one end-of-life directive associated with a chemical product is configured to generate or provide control data for providing the end-of-life product or at least a portion of the end-of-life product to a chemical and / or physical processing plant associated with the chemical product. At least one end-of-life directive associated with a chemical product may be used to generate control data for recovering chemical materials derivable from the end-of-life product or at least a portion of the end-of-life product.

[0043] In another embodiment, control data associated with one or more process steps of a recycling process is generated. Additionally or alternatively, the recycling process includes returning the end-of-life product or portion thereof to the chemical manufacturer and / or processing the end-of-life product or portion thereof by the chemical manufacturer.

[0044] In another embodiment, the control data relates to chemical and / or physical processing of the end-of-life product to recover chemical materials. The control data may relate to a chemical and / or physical processing method suitable for treating the end-of-life product or a portion thereof to recover chemical materials. The control data may relate to a chemical and / or physical processing method performed by a chemical manufacturer. Additionally or alternatively, the control data may relate to returning the end-of-life product or a portion thereof to a chemical manufacturer. The control data may relate to a chemical and / or physical processing plant suitable for treating the end-of-life product or a portion thereof to recover chemical materials. The control data may relate to a chemical and / or physical processing plant suitable for recovering chemical materials from the end-of-life product or a portion thereof. The control data may relate to collecting, sorting, and / or transporting the end-of-life product or a portion thereof to recover chemical materials. The control data may relate to providing the end-of-life product or at least a portion of the end-of-life product to a chemical and / or physical processing plant associated with the chemical manufacturer.

[0045] The distributed network may include computing nodes associated with participants of the distributed network that may be configured to perform data transactions. The computing nodes associated with participants of the distributed network may be associated with manufacturers or users of physical products, such as chemical product manufacturers, intermediate product manufacturers, final product manufacturers, final product users, or end-of-life product users. The data transactions may be based on a transaction protocol that includes an authentication and / or authorization mechanism. Based on the authentication and / or authorization mechanism, a peer-to-peer network between the computing nodes associated with participants of the distributed network may be established. End-of-life triggers and / or end-of-life commands may be transferred via peer-to-peer communication between computing nodes of the distributed network. Each node of the distributed network associated with a participant of the network may be configured as a command consuming service, a command providing service, a trigger providing service, or a trigger consuming service.

[0046] One or more authentication mechanisms may be associated with or tied to a decentralized identifier. The one or more authentication mechanisms associated with a decentralized identifier may be provided to participating nodes. The one or more authentication mechanisms associated with a decentralized identifier may be accessible by data providing services and / or data consuming services. The decentralized configuration allows for more efficient use of computing resources and provides greater control to data owners.

[0047] The one or more authorization mechanisms may include at least one authorization rule for controlling access to data under the control of the data owner. Computing nodes associated with participants in the distributed network may be configured to provide data consumption services and / or data provisioning services. A data provisioning service may be configured to provide or transmit data to another participating node in the distributed network. A data consumption service may be configured to import or receive data from another participating node in the distributed network. Providing data to a data provisioning service for access by the data consumption service may include indirect or direct access of the data by the data consumption service.

[0048] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0049] [Figure 1] 1 illustrates, in simplified form, one embodiment of a method or apparatus for providing chemical data, end-of-life triggers, and / or end-of-life directives over a distributed network. [Figure 2] 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method or apparatus for providing end-of-life directives for chemical products used to manufacture final products. [Figure 3a] 1 shows a schematic representation of an end of life directive and a product passport including a chemical product passport with an end of life directive; [Figure 3b] 1 shows a schematic representation of an end of life directive and a product passport including a chemical product passport with an end of life directive; [Figure 3c] 1 shows a schematic representation of an end of life directive and a product passport including a chemical product passport with an end of life directive; [Figure 4] 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating another embodiment of a method or apparatus for providing end-of-life directives for chemical products used to manufacture final products. [Figure 5] 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating another embodiment of a method or apparatus for providing end-of-life directives for chemical products used to manufacture final products. [Figure 6] 1 illustrates a schematic flow diagram of a method for initiating a process for recovering chemical materials from an end-of-life product or portion thereof based on an end-of-life trigger and an end-of-life directive associated with the chemical product. [Figure 7a] 10A and 10B illustrate the use of end-of-life triggers to provide end-of-life directives associated with chemical products. [Figure 7b] 10A and 10B illustrate the use of end-of-life triggers to provide end-of-life directives associated with chemical products. [Figure 8] 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method or apparatus for recovering chemical materials from end-of-life products. [Figure 9] 10 is a diagram illustrating a user interface for recovering chemical materials from end-of-life products. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0050] Detailed Description The following embodiments are merely examples for implementing the methods, devices, systems, passports, or applications disclosed herein and should not be considered as limiting.

[0051] FIG. 1 illustrates, in simplified form, one embodiment of a method or apparatus for providing chemical data, end-of-life triggers, and / or end-of-life directives over a distributed network.

[0052] Chemical products 110, such as those produced by the chemical production network, may be provided in association with a chemical product passport. The chemical product passport may include a chemical product identifier. The chemical product identifier may include one or more decentralized identifiers. The decentralized identifier may be an identifier in a decentralized network that enables data exchange over the decentralized network. The data exchange may include discovery of the decentralized identifier for participants of the decentralized network, authentication of participants of the decentralized network, and / or authorization of data transfer via peer-to-peer communication between participants of the decentralized network. The chemical product passport may include data related to the chemical product. The chemical product passport may include a digital representation of chemical product data associated with the chemical product 110.

[0053] The chemical passport may further include or be associated with authentication and / or authorization information tied to the chemical identifier. The authentication and / or authorization information may be provided for authentication and / or authorization of the data providing service and / or data consuming service 210, 214. The chemical identifier may be or may be associated with at least one decentralized identifier uniquely associated with the chemical. The decentralized identifier may be connected to a digital representation of the chemical data associated with the chemical 110. The digital representation may include a representation for accessing the chemical data or a portion thereof. The decentralized identifier may include a universally unique identifier (UUID) or a digital identifier (DID). The decentralized identifier may include any unique identifier uniquely associated with a data owner and / or a chemical. The data owner may be the manufacturer of the chemical. Through the decentralized identifier and its unique association with the data owner and / or chemical data, access to the chemical data may be controlled by the data owner.

[0054] Chemical passports containing digital representations of the chemical data may be stored in a distributed database 200. The chemical data may be stored in a database 202 associated with a data owner, such as a manufacturer of the chemical 110.

[0055] The chemical product 110 may be physically delivered to a manufacturer that produces chemical-based products. The chemical product may be associated with a QR code that encodes a chemical identifier, particularly a decentralized identifier. A user of the chemical product may read the QR code through a QR code reader 206. The chemical identifier may be provided to a database 208 associated with the manufacturer that produces the chemical product 110-based products. In other embodiments, the manufacturer that produces the chemical-based products may retrieve the chemical identifier via the distributed database 200.

[0056] The data owner in this example may be a chemical manufacturer, any intermediate manufacturer that produces intermediate products based on chemical products, or any manufacturer that produces products based on chemical products. The data owner may include any entity that produces data. The data producing node may be coupled to the data owner or an entity that owns or produces the physical product from which the data is produced. The data may be produced by a third party entity on behalf of the entity that owns the physical product from which the data is produced.

[0057] The data consuming services 210, 214 may comprise computer-executable instructions for accessing and / or processing data, such as chemical product data, associated with a data owner. The data providing services 210, 214 may comprise computer-executable instructions for providing and / or processing data, such as chemical product data, associated with a data owner for access and / or processing by the data consuming services 210, 214.

[0058] The chemical identifier may be provided from database 208 to data consuming service 210, as indicated by arrow 222. Based on the received chemical identifier, a request to access chemical data related to the chemical identifier may be triggered by data consuming service 210, as indicated by arrow 212. The chemical identifier may be associated with the manufacturer of chemical 110 or provided to that manufacturer's data providing service 214. Additionally, authentication and / or authorization information may be provided. The request may be authenticated and / or authorized to access chemical data related to the chemical identifier. Based on successful authorization and / or authentication, access to chemical data related to the chemical identifier may be granted.

[0059] The chemical identifier may be provided to a data providing service 214 for access, as indicated by arrow 212. The data providing service 214 may use the received chemical identifier to retrieve chemical data associated with the chemical 110, as indicated by arrows 218 and 221. The chemical data associated with the chemical 110 provided to the data providing service 214 may be provided to a data consuming service 210, as indicated by arrow 216. The chemical data associated with the chemical 110 may be stored in a database 208 associated with a user of the chemical 110, as indicated by arrow 220.

[0060] Chemical product data can be uniquely associated with chemical products via chemical product identifiers, particularly decentralized identifiers. Through a decentralized network, chemical product data may be transferred between chemical product manufacturers and chemical product users. In this way, chemical product data, along with its unique association to a chemical product, can be shared between product supply chain participants without a direct central intermediary. This enables transparency of chemical product data throughout the product supply chain.

[0061] Similarly, end-of-life triggers and / or end-of-life directives may be provided in response to the provision of chemical product data. Through chemical product identifiers, particularly decentralized identifiers, end-of-life triggers and / or directives can be uniquely associated with chemical products. Via the decentralized network, end-of-life triggers and / or directives may be transferred between chemical product manufacturers and end-of-life product users, or vice versa. In this way, end-of-life triggers and / or directives, uniquely associated with chemical products, may be shared directly among participants in the decentralized network without a central intermediary. Such mechanisms enable more efficient recovery of chemical products and reuse, for example, by recycling, upcycling, or downcycling the chemicals contained in end products. The digital backbone structure thus enables environmentally friendly use of materials. The digital backbone structure ensures that used chemical products can be re-fed to the production of new chemical products. In this way, the circular use of chemical products can be strengthened and expanded to a diverse set of end products made from chemical products. The digital backbone structure ensures the dematerialization of used products and reduces the environmental impact of non-reusable materials. In this way, one-way use of chemical products can be enhanced and it can be ensured that end-of-life products are disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner.

[0062] FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a method or apparatus for providing end-of-life directives 150 for chemical products used to manufacture end products via chemicals.

[0063] At the end-of-life product stage, end-of-life triggers and / or end-of-life commands 150 may be provided and executed based on distributed network services 210, 214. Different embodiments exist, and Figures 2-5 are merely examples and should not be considered limiting.

[0064] The end-of-life directive 150 may be provided by a chemical manufacturer's data provisioning service 214 as part of a chemical product passport. One example of such a chemical product passport is described in relation to Figure 1. The chemical product passport may be provided to all computing nodes associated with participants in the end product chain using the chemical product. In this way, the end-of-life directive 150 associated with the chemical product may be included in the end product passport. One example of a chemical product passport and an end product passport including an end-of-life directive is shown in Figure 3b.

[0065] 2, the end-of-life command 150 may be an encoded command that may be executed based on an end-of-life trigger. The end-of-life command 150, when executed by a computing node associated with a participant of the distributed network, may initiate a process for recovery of chemical materials. Upon execution of the end-of-life command 150 by a computing node associated with a participant of the distributed network, a process for recovery of chemical materials may be initiated. The participants of the distributed networks 210, 214 may be chemical product manufacturers, product manufacturers that use chemical products to manufacture products such as intermediate or final products, users of the final products, or users of the end-of-life products.

[0066] The end of life directive 150 may be received by an end product user or an end of life product user's end of life directive consumption service 210. The end of life directive 150 may be provided by an end of life directive providing service 214 of a chemical product manufacturer, any intermediate product manufacturer that uses the chemical product to produce an intermediate product, or an end product manufacturer that uses the chemical product to produce a final product.

[0067] The end-of-life directive 150 may be provided as part of a chemical product passport. The chemical product passport may include a decentralized identifier associated with the chemical product and / or data about the chemical product as described in connection with Figure 1. By providing the end-of-life directive 150 with the chemical product passport, the end-of-life directive 150 may be inherently linked to the decentralized identifier associated with the chemical product and / or data about the chemical product. This linking may be permanent or non-permanent.

[0068] If the link to the decentralized identifier associated with the chemical product and / or data related to the chemical product is persistent, the end-of-life directive 150 associated with the chemical product may be linked to the chemical product through the product chain to the final product and accessible through the final product passport via the decentralized identifier associated with the chemical product and / or data related to the chemical product. An example product passport is illustrated in FIG. 3. In particular, the end-of-life directive 150 may be provided in association with the decentralized identifier associated with the chemical product and / or data related to the chemical product, and such connection may be maintained for any data exchange related to the chemical product data. In this manner, the end-of-life directive 150 may be directly connected to the data flow in the decentralized network via the decentralized identifier associated with the chemical product and / or data related to the chemical product. Through the digital link between the decentralized identifier associated with the chemical product and the end-of-life directive, the physical use of the material and the associated peer-to-peer data exchange enable the communication of the end-of-life directive through the manufacturing and / or lifecycle chain.

[0069] If the link to the decentralized identifier associated with the chemical product and / or data related to the chemical product is non-persistent, the relationship of the end-of-life directive 150 to the chemical product can be maintained by linking the end-of-life directive 150 to either the decentralized identifier associated with the product manufactured based on the chemical product and / or data related to the product manufactured based on the chemical product. In either case, a unique link to the end-of-life directive of the final product and associated end-of-life process for recovery of the chemical material can be maintained.

[0070] Figures 3a-c show a schematic representation of an end of life directive and a product passport including a chemical product passport with an end of life directive.

[0071] FIG. 3a illustrates an end-of-life directive in a simplified JSON file format. The end-of-life directive may be linked to a decentralized identifier associated with a chemical product. The end-of-life directive may include specifications for a portion of the end-of-life product, including the chemical product. In this case, this may be the ingredients of the end-of-life product. The end-of-life directive may include specifications for how to reuse the portion of the end-of-life product. In this case, this may be chemical recycling. The end-of-life directive may include specifications for a collection date for the portion of the end-of-life product. In this case, this may be a date calculated from the request date or a preset date when the end-of-life stage is reached, for example, through predefined timing. The end-of-life directive may include specifications for a collection location for the portion of the end-of-life product. In this case, this may be a location identified based on the location of the end-of-life product. Through the end-of-life directive, a user of the end-of-life product at runtime may be provided with a user interface, as shown in FIG. 9.

[0072] The product passport configuration shown in Figure 3b is just one illustrative example, and different configurations exist for product passports anchored by decentralized identifiers, including different parent, child, and grandchild relationships for passports generated in the manufacturing chain up to the final product and / or the lifecycle chain up to disposal.

[0073] Figure 3b shows a fully embedded configuration for different passports generated along the production chain to the final product. Individual passports may be generated for multiple production stages. Passport generation may include providing a decentralized identification and authentication mechanism for each of the multiple production stages. End-of-life directives may be embedded in the final product passport by fully embedding the chemical product passport in the final product passport. In this way, end-of-life directives may be available at any stage in the production chain up to the final product. Figure 3c shows the product passport of Figure 3b in a simplified JSON file format.

[0074] In other embodiments, individual configurations may be used for different passports generated in the manufacturing chain leading up to the final product or in the lifecycle chain leading up to disposal. Individual passports may be generated for multiple stages in the manufacturing chain leading up to the final product or in the lifecycle chain leading up to disposal. The generation of the passports may include providing a decentralized identification and authentication mechanism for each of the multiple stages. The relationship of passports at different stages in the manufacturing chain leading up to the final product or in the lifecycle chain leading up to disposal may be based on a link between such passports.

[0075] In yet other embodiments, a fixed configuration may be used for different passports generated in the manufacturing chain leading up to the final product or in the lifecycle chain leading up to disposal. Individual passports may be generated for multiple stages in the manufacturing chain leading up to the final product or in the lifecycle chain leading up to disposal. The generation of the passports may include providing a decentralized identification and authentication mechanism for each of the multiple stages in the manufacturing chain leading up to the final product or in the lifecycle chain leading up to disposal. The relationship of the passports at different stages may be fixed to the final product passport based on the linking of the passports at the different manufacturing or lifecycle stages to the final product passport.

[0076] FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a method or apparatus for providing end-of-life directives for chemical products used to manufacture final products.

[0077] The embodiment of FIG. 2 illustrates providing end-of-life directives 150 via a chemical product passport, as described in connection with FIG. 1. This transfer may occur upon delivery of the chemical product to an intermediate or final product manufacturer. The embodiment of FIG. 4 illustrates providing end-of-life directives 150 via an end-of-life management system 200. The end-of-life management system 200 may be associated with an end-of-life user or end-of-life product user data provisioning service 210. The end-of-life management system 200 may include a registry that provides end-of-life directives 150 in terms of a decentralized identifier associated with the chemical product. The end-of-life directives 150 may be provided by a decentralized end-of-life application for access by the end-of-life user or end-of-life product user's directive consumption service 210. The end-of-life directives 150 may be provided by the decentralized end-of-life application based on a decentralized identifier associated with the chemical product or an end-of-life product user's directive consumption service 210.

[0078] FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a method or apparatus for providing end-of-life directives for chemical products used to manufacture final products.

[0079] The embodiments of Figures 2 and 4 illustrate the provision of an end-of-life directive 150 via a chemical passport, as described in connection with Figure 1. In the embodiment of Figure 5, the end-of-life directive 150 is provided upon receipt of a direct end-of-life (EOL) trigger by a computing node of the chemical manufacturer 214.

[0080] Chemical products 110, as produced by the chemical production network, may be provided in association with a chemical product passport, as described in connection with Figure 1. The chemical product passport may be used to generate a final product passport, as described in connection with Figures 3a-c, for different configurations to track chemical products through the production and / or life cycle chain. End-of-life directives 150 associated with chemical products may be stored in a distributed database 200. The end-of-life directives 150 may be stored in a database 202 associated with a data owner, such as a manufacturer of the chemical product 110. The end-of-life directives 150 may relate to a chemical identifier, particularly a distributed identifier, associated with the chemical product 110.

[0081] The chemical product identifier, particularly the distributed identifier, may be accessible via the final product passport to a computing node configured to generate an end-of-life trigger based on an end-of-life event. The end-of-life trigger may be associated with or include data related to the end-of-life event. The data related to the end-of-life directive 150 may include or be associated with a representation of the end-of-life directive 150. Such a representation may include, for example, a pointer to the end-of-life directive 150 stored in the chemical manufacturer's distributed database 202. The data related to the end-of-life directive may include or relate to authentication and / or authorization information associated with the chemical product identifier, particularly the distributed identifier. The authentication and / or authorization information may be provided for authentication and / or authorization of the data providing service and / or data consuming service 210, 214. The data related to the end-of-life directive 150 may be fetched from a distributed discovery system or provided as part of the chemical product passport.

[0082] The end-of-life trigger and the chemical product identifier, particularly the distributed identifier, may be provided to a computing node of the chemical manufacturer 214. Based on the chemical product identifier, a request to access the end-of-life directive 150 for the chemical product identifier may be triggered by the end-of-life directive consumption service 210. The chemical product identifier may be provided to an end-of-life directive providing service 214 associated with the manufacturer of the chemical product 110. Additionally, authentication and / or authorization information may be provided. The request may be authenticated and / or authorized to access the end-of-life directive 150 for the chemical product identifier.

[0083] Based on successful authorization and / or authentication, access to the end-of-life directive 150 for the chemical product identifier may be granted.

[0084] For access, at least the chemical product identifier may be provided to the end-of-life directive providing service 214. The end-of-life directive providing service 214 may use the received chemical product identifier to retrieve the end-of-life directive associated with the chemical product 110 from the distributed database 202. The end-of-life directive associated with the chemical product 110 provided to the end-of-life directive providing service 214 may be provided to the end-of-life directive consumption service 210. The end-of-life directive associated with the chemical product 110 may be stored in a database 208 associated with an end-of-life product user of the chemical product 110. The end-of-life directive associated with the chemical product 110 may be executed by a computing node associated with the end-of-life product user of the chemical product 110.

[0085] In this sense, end-of-life directives may be provided directly from chemical manufacturers to end-of-life product users upon end-of-life trigger to ensure that up-to-date end-of-life directives are provided.

[0086] FIG. 6 illustrates generally a flow diagram of a method 600 for controlling one or more end-of-life products to recover at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products.

[0087] When the final product reaches the end of its life, it may be disposed of by the end user through a waste collection system. The waste system may be municipal waste collection or a more elaborate waste collection system such as that provided by an end product return system. The waste collection system may include a sensor, such as an optical sensor, that detects receipt of the final product. Upon return of the final product, the final product may be declared an end-of-life product.

[0088] At least one end-of-life trigger may be generated 602, for example, upon return of the end-of-life product by a waste collection system. The end-of-life trigger may relate to registration of the end-of-life product by the waste collection system. The end-of-life product may include an end-of-life identifier physically connected to the end-of-life product. The waste collection system may provide such identifier through a sensor measurement. For example, an optical sensor registers a printed code, such as a QR code, in which the end-of-life identifier is encoded.

[0089] Chemical identifiers associated with chemicals used to manufacture the end-of-life product may be fetched 604 through a relationship to the final product identifier. One way to achieve such a relationship via a product passport including a chemical passport is shown in FIG. 3. The end-of-life trigger may relate to or include the final product identifier, particularly a distributed final product identifier. The final product identifier may relate to or include the chemical identifier associated with the chemical used to manufacture the final product. The end-of-life trigger may include or relate to the chemical identifier, in which case the step of fetching the chemical identifier is not required.

[0090] An end-of-life trigger may be provided 606 and an end-of-life directive associated with the chemical product may be received 608. The end-of-life directive may be provided by the chemical product manufacturer and / or to a consumer service associated with the chemical product manufacturer. The end-of-life directive associated with the chemical product may be provided based on the end-of-life trigger. The end-of-life directive may be part of a chemical product passport associated with the chemical product included in the final product, as described in connection with FIGS. 2-4.

[0091] An end-of-life directive may be received 608 based on a chemical product identifier associated with a chemical product included in the final product, as described in connection with FIG. 5 . The end-of-life directive may be related to the chemical product identifier, particularly a distributed type. The end-of-life directive may be stored in a chemical manufacturer's database for access based on an end-of-life trigger. The end-of-life trigger may be provided to an end-of-life trigger service and via peer-to-peer communication to an end-of-life trigger consumption service of the chemical manufacturer. Upon providing the generated end-of-life trigger, the end-of-life directive may be accessed by, and particularly forwarded to, the end-of-life directive consumption service. Upon receiving the end-of-life directive, the end-of-life directive may be executed to recover chemical materials included in the end-of-life product.

[0092] The end-of-life command, when executed by the computing node, may initiate the recovery of chemical materials from the end-of-life product. Control data associated with the recovery of at least one chemical material may be generated and provided 610. The end-of-life command may be executed upon the generation of an end-of-life trigger and the provision of such trigger to the end-of-life command. The end-of-life command may be executed to initiate a process to recover chemical materials contained in the end-of-life product.

[0093] 7a, b illustrate diagrammatically the use of end-of-life trigger events to implement end-of-life directives associated with chemical products.

[0094] The end-of-life trigger may be generated based on sensor detection of the end-of-life product 130. The end-of-life (EOL) trigger may be triggered by an end-of-life product user or may be generated based on an end-of-life command 150 provided with the final product passport. The end-of-life trigger may be generated by any participating node in the distributed network, such as a computing node of an end-of-life product user. As shown in FIG. 7a, a participating node 702 that triggers an end-of-life event may execute a command configured to provide the end-of-life trigger to the participating node 700 that provides the end-of-life command. The participating node 702 that generates the end-of-life trigger may function as an end-of-life trigger providing service 702. The participating node 702 that generates the end-of-life trigger may also receive the end-of-life command. The participating node 702 that generates the end-of-life trigger may function as an end-of-life command consuming service 702.

[0095] As shown in FIG. 7b, a participating node 702 that generates an end-of-life trigger may execute a command configured to provide the end-of-life trigger to a participating node 704 that functions as an intermediary to a computing node 700 that is configured to provide an end-of-life command. The participating node 702 that generates the end-of-life trigger may function as an end-of-life trigger providing service 702. The end-of-life trigger may be provided to an intermediary node 704 that may be configured to provide the end-of-life trigger to a computing node 700 that is configured to provide an end-of-life command. The participating node 702 that generates the end-of-life trigger may receive the end-of-life command via the intermediary node 704 or directly from the end-of-life command providing service 700. The participating node 702 that generates the end-of-life trigger may function as an end-of-life command consuming service 702. The end-of-life command may be provided to any computing node that functions as an end-of-life command consuming service 702. The end-of-life command may be used on control data generated by the end-of-life consumption service 702.

[0096] FIG. 8 shows a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a method, system 800, or apparatus 802-810 for recycling end-of-life products or portions thereof and recovering chemical materials contained in the end-of-life products.

[0097] To recycle end-of-life products manufactured based on the chemical product or part thereof and to recover chemical materials, end-of-life triggers and / or end-of-life directives may be provided via the distributed network. System components may therefore be implemented by different computing nodes associated with participants of the distributed network. One computing node may implement one or more components of system 800.

[0098] The trigger provider 802 may be configured to generate at least one end-of-life trigger based on an end-of-life event associated with the end-of-life product 130. The end-of-life trigger may be associated with at least one chemical product and at least one chemical product identifier. The trigger provider 802 may be associated with a user of the end product 120 or a user of the end-of-life product 130.

[0099] When the final product 120 reaches the end of its life, the final product 120 may be disposed of by an end user through a waste collection system. The waste collection system may be a municipal waste collection system or a more elaborate waste collection system such as provided by a final product return system. The trigger provider 802 may be implemented by the waste collection system or by a computing node associated with the waste collection system.

[0100] The waste collection system may include a sensor, such as an optical sensor, that detects receipt of the final product 120. Upon return of the final product 120, the final product 120 may be declared an end-of-life product 130, which may signify an end-of-life event. The end-of-life event may relate to registration of the end-of-life product 130 with the waste collection system. An end-of-life trigger may be generated upon return or registration of the final product with the waste collection system.

[0101] The end product 120 may include an end product identifier physically connected to the end product. The waste collection system may provide such an identifier through sensor measurements. For example, an optical sensor registers a printed code, such as a QR code, in which the end product identifier is encoded. The end-of-life trigger may relate to or include the end product identifier, in particular a distributed end product identifier. The end product identifier may relate to a chemical identifier associated with a chemical contained in the end product. The end-of-life trigger may include or relate to a chemical identifier. The chemical identifier associated with a chemical contained in the end-of-life product may be fetched through a relationship to the end product identifier. One way to realize such a relationship via a product passport, including a chemical passport, is shown in Figures 3b and 3c.

[0102] An end-of-life trigger may be generated based on a chemical product identifier, particularly a distributed identifier associated with the chemical product. The generated end-of-life trigger may be provided to an end-of-life trigger service and via peer-to-peer communication to an end-of-life event consumption service of the chemical product manufacturer. Upon providing the generated end-of-life trigger, an end-of-life directive may be provided to initiate a recycling process to recover chemical materials contained in the end-of-life product.

[0103] The orders provider 804 may be configured to provide at least one end-of-life order associated with a chemical product based on at least one end-of-life trigger. The generated end-of-life trigger may be provided to fetch an end-of-life order provided by a chemical product manufacturer. The end-of-life trigger may relate to a distributed identifier associated with a chemical product used to produce the end-of-life product. The end-of-life order may be provided to a distributed identifier associated with a chemical product used to produce the end-of-life product.

[0104] The end of life directive may be part of a chemical product passport, as described in relation to Figures 1, 2, 3a-c, 4, and 5. Through the relationship between the chemical product identifier, particularly the decentralized identifier, and the final product identifier, the end of life directive may be accessible by the final product user or the end of life product user.

[0105] The end-of-life directive may be stored in a distributed database associated with, for example, a chemical manufacturer. The end-of-life directive may be provided in response to providing a generated end-of-life trigger. The end-of-life directive may be provided from the chemical manufacturer over a distributed network. The end-of-life trigger may be provided by an end-of-life trigger service of an end-of-life product user or an end-of-life product user. The end-of-life trigger may be received by an end-of-life event consumption service of the chemical manufacturer.

[0106] The end-of-life directive may be provided by a chemical product manufacturer's end-of-life directive providing service. The end-of-life directive may be received by an end-of-life product user or an end-of-life product user's end-of-life directive consuming service.

[0107] The generated end-of-life trigger may be provided to a trigger consumption service associated with the chemical manufacturer. Through the relationship between the chemical identifier, particularly the distributed identifier, and the end product identifier, the chemical identifier may be provided to a trigger consumption service associated with the chemical manufacturer.

[0108] The end-of-life trigger may relate to or include data related to a distributed identifier and / or end-of-life product data associated with an end-of-life product to provide the chemical manufacturer with access to the end-of-life product data. In this manner, the end-of-life product data may be provided to the chemical manufacturer. Such end-of-life product data may include end-of-life product characteristics related to the performance or use of chemicals contained in the end-of-life product. An end-of-life directive providing service associated with the chemical manufacturer may provide or forward an end-of-life directive related to the chemical identifier, particularly the distributed identifier, to an end-of-life directive consuming service associated with a user of the end product 120 or a user of the end-of-life product 130. Upon receipt, the end-of-life directive may be initiated and executed to recover the chemical material.

[0109] The command executor 806 may be configured to generate, based on the at least one end-of-life command, control data associated with the recovery of at least one chemical material from one or more end-of-life products manufactured from the at least one chemical product. The command executor 806 may be configured to execute the at least one end-of-life command to initialize processing of the end-of-life product for the recovery of the chemical material. The end-of-life command, when executed by the computing node, may initialize a process for the recovery of the chemical material. An end-of-life command associated with a chemical product may include or generate control data for sorting and / or collecting the end-of-life product. An end-of-life command associated with a chemical product may relate to or generate control data for providing the end-of-life product or at least a portion of the end-of-life product to a chemical processing plant.

[0110] The control data provider 808 may be configured to provide control data to initialize a process for the recovery of chemical materials. The control data may be associated with one or more process steps of a recycling process. The recycling process may include returning the end-of-life product or a portion thereof to the chemical manufacturer and / or processing the end-of-life product or a portion thereof by the chemical manufacturer. The control data may relate to chemical and / or physical processing of the end-of-life product to recover chemical materials.

[0111] The control data may relate to a chemical and / or physical processing method suitable for treating the end-of-life product or a portion thereof to recover chemical materials. The control data may relate to a chemical and / or physical processing method performed by a chemical manufacturer. The control data may relate to the return of the end-of-life product or a portion thereof to a chemical manufacturer. The control data may relate to a chemical and / or physical processing plant suitable for treating the end-of-life product or a portion thereof to recover chemical materials. The control data may relate to a chemical and / or physical processing plant suitable for recovering chemical materials from the end-of-life product or a portion thereof. The control data may relate to the collection, sorting, and / or transportation of the end-of-life product or a portion thereof to recover chemical materials. The control data may relate to providing the end-of-life product or at least a portion of the end-of-life product to a chemical and / or physical processing plant associated with the chemical manufacturer.

[0112] A plant operator 810 of the chemical and / or physical processing plant 812 may be configured to receive the control data and initialize processing of the end-of-life product or portion thereof to recover chemical materials. The chemical and / or physical processing plant operator may be associated with a chemical product manufacturer that produces chemical products.

[0113] A chemical and / or physical processing plant 812 for treating the end-of-life product or a portion thereof to recover chemical materials may be associated with the chemical manufacturer.

[0114] The chemical and / or physical processing plant 812 may physically perform processing of the end-of-life product or a portion thereof to recover chemical materials.

[0115] FIG. 9 shows a schematic diagram of a user interface for initiating the process of treating end-of-life products and recovering chemical materials.

[0116] The user interface 900 may enable an end-of-life product user to trigger an end-of-life event and shows two views for responding to an end-of-life event. The top diagram shows a view for triggering an end-of-life event. For example, based on scanning a QR code on the end-of-life product, the user may be prompted with a screen specifying the product and an end-of-life reach button 902. Clicking the end-of-life reach button 902 may generate an end-of-life trigger, and an end-of-life directive may be retrieved as described in connection with FIGS. 1-9 . The end-of-life directive may be configured to generate control data for collecting the end-of-life product. The end-of-life directive may display the components of the end-of-life product, including chemical products 904, a recycling or treatment method 906, and a date 908 and location 910 for collecting the end-of-life product or each component, as shown in FIG. 3a. In this manner, the end-of-life directive may be retrieved to generate control data for the process steps for collecting the end-of-life product or the components of the end-of-life product.

[0117] The end-of-life directive may include further information regarding further process steps. For example, the end-of-life directive may relate to a recycling method. The end-of-life directive may be configured to generate control data for collecting, sorting, transporting, and / or processing the end-of-life product or at least a portion of the end-of-life product. The end-of-life directive may be configured to generate control data for providing the end-of-life product or at least a portion of the end-of-life product to a chemical and / or physical processing plant associated with the chemical manufacturer. The control data may relate to returning the end-of-life product or a portion thereof to the chemical manufacturer. The control data may relate to a chemical and / or physical processing method suitable for processing the end-of-life product or a portion thereof to recover chemical materials. The control data may relate to a chemical and / or physical processing method implemented by the chemical manufacturer.

[0118] Although the disclosure has been described in conjunction with preferred embodiments and examples, other variations can be understood and practiced by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the claims.

[0119] Any steps presented herein may be performed in any order. The methods disclosed herein are not limited to any particular order of these steps. It is also not required that different steps be performed at a particular location or at a particular node of a distributed system; i.e., each of the steps may be performed at a different computing node using different equipment / data processing.

[0120] As used herein, "identifying" also includes "initiating identifying or causing to be identified," "generating" also includes "initiating generating and / or causing to be generated," and "providing" also includes "initiating identifying, generating, selecting, sending, and / or receiving, or causing to be identified, generating, selecting, sending, and / or receiving." "Initiating or causing to be performed an action" includes any processing signal that triggers a computing node or device to perform the respective action.

[0121] In the claims as well as in this specification, the term "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single element or other unit may fulfill the functions of several entities or items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage in implementations.

[0122] Any disclosures and embodiments described herein relate to the methods, systems, devices, and computer program elements outlined above, and vice versa. Advantageously, benefits provided by any of the embodiments and examples apply to all other embodiments and examples as well, and vice versa.

[0123] All terms and definitions used herein are broadly understood and have their ordinary meaning.

Claims

1. 1. A method for controlling one or more end-of-life products to recover at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products, wherein the one or more end-of-life products are manufactured based on at least one chemical product, the method comprising: providing at least one end-of-life directive associated with the chemical product based on at least one end-of-life trigger, the at least one end-of-life trigger being associated with the at least one chemical product and at least one chemical product identifier; generating, based on the at least one end-of-life directive, control data associated with the recovery of the at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products manufactured based on the at least one chemical product; providing said control data to initialize a process for recovery of said chemical material; A method comprising:

2. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the chemical material comprises one or more compounds produced from the end-of-life product or portion thereof, and the chemical material comprises one or more compounds suitable for producing the at least one chemical product.

3. 10. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one end-of-life trigger is associated with at least one chemical identifier associated with the chemical used to manufacture the end-of-life product.

4. 10. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one end of life directive associated with the chemical product used to manufacture the end of life product is provided with respect to the at least one chemical product identifier associated with the chemical product used to manufacture the end of life product.

5. 10. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one end-of-life command associated with the chemical product is provided in response to providing the end-of-life trigger to an end-of-life manufacturer, an end-product user, or a command providing service associated with an end-of-life product user, and wherein the at least one end-of-life command associated with the chemical product is provided from the end-of-life manufacturer, the end-product user, or the command providing service associated with the end-of-life product user via a distributed network.

6. 10. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one end-of-life command associated with the chemical product is provided in response to providing the end-of-life trigger to a command providing service associated with a chemical product manufacturer, and wherein the at least one end-of-life command associated with the chemical product is provided from the command providing service associated with the chemical product manufacturer via the distributed network.

7. 10. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one end-of-life directive associated with the chemical product is configured to generate control data for providing the end-of-life product or at least a portion of the end-of-life product to a chemical and / or physical processing plant associated with a chemical product manufacturer.

8. 10. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the control data associated with one or more process steps of the process is generated, the process including returning an end-of-life product or part thereof to a chemical manufacturer and / or processing an end-of-life product or part thereof by a chemical manufacturer.

9. 10. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the control data relates to chemical and / or physical treatment of the end-of-life product to recover the chemical material.

10. 10. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the control data relates to a chemical and / or physical treatment method suitable for treating the end-of-life product or part thereof to recover the chemical material.

11. 10. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the control data relates to a chemical and / or physical treatment method carried out by a chemical manufacturer, and wherein the control data relates to the return of an end-of-life product or part thereof to the chemical manufacturer.

12. 1. An apparatus for controlling one or more end-of-life products to recover at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products, the one or more end-of-life products being manufactured based on at least one chemical product, the apparatus comprising: providing at least one end-of-life directive associated with the chemical product based on at least one end-of-life trigger, the at least one end-of-life trigger being associated with the at least one chemical product and at least one chemical product identifier; generating, based on at least one end-of-life directive, control data associated with the recovery of the at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products manufactured based on the at least one chemical product; providing the control data to initialize a process for recovering the chemical material; Device.

13. 1. A system for controlling one or more end-of-life products to recover at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products, comprising:

13. The apparatus for controlling one or more end-of-life products to recover at least one chemical material from the one or more end-of-life products of claim 12; a chemical and / or physical processing plant for processing said end-of-life product or a portion thereof to recover said chemical materials, said chemical and / or physical processing plant being associated with a chemical product manufacturer; A system comprising:

14. 14. A chemical product associated with at least one end of life directive configured to control one or more end of life products to recover at least one chemical material from said one or more end of life products, said end of life directive configured to provide control data according to the method of any one of claims 1 to 11, or by the apparatus of claim 12, or by the system of claim 13.

15. Use of control data provided according to the method of any one of claims 1 to 11, or by the apparatus of claim 12, or by the system of claim 13 to recover chemical materials and / or resupply chemical materials to one or more chemical manufacturing processes.

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