Methods for monitoring environmental impact of chemical production

Abstract

The disclosure relates to the field of sustainable industrialization, in particular the monitoring of environmental impact in industrial manufacturing processes. The disclosure relates to methods, apparatuses, input materials, output materials, network nodes, data services and validation services for validating environmental impact data associated with input material to be used for the production of one or more output material(s), wherein the environmental impact data relates to one or more environmental properties of the input material.

Description

[0001] METHODS FOR MONITORING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF CHEMICAL PRODUCTION

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The disclosure relates to the field of sustainable industrialization, in particular the monitoring of environmental impact in industrial manufacturing processes. The disclosure relates to methods, apparatuses, input materials, output materials, network nodes, data services and validation services for validating environmental impact data associated with input material to be used for the production of one or more output material(s), wherein the environmental impact data relates to one or more environmental properties of the input material.

[0004] TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

[0005] The present disclosure relates in general terms to environmental impact tracking in production or manufacturing processes.

[0006] SUMMARY

[0007] In one aspect disclosed is a method, in particular a computer-implemented method, for validating environmental impact data associated with input material to be used for a production of one or more output material(s), wherein the environmental impact data relates to one or more environmental properties of the input material, the method comprising the steps of:

[0008] • providing at least one identifier associated the input material, environmental impact data associated the input material and one or more validation input(s) associated with the generation of the environmental impact data;

[0009] • providing a validation rule set including one or more validation rules configured to validate the environmental impact data based on the generation of the environmental impact data associated with the input material;

[0010] • selecting at least one validation rule from the validation rule set for at least one of the validation inputs and generating at least one validation score by applying the at least one validation rule to the at least one provided validation input;

[0011] • depending on validation score assigning validated environmental impact data to the at least one identifier associated with the input material.

[0012] In another aspect disclosed is a method in particular a computer-implemented method, for validating environmental impact data associated with input material to be used for a production of one or more output material(s), wherein the environmental impact data relates to one or more environmental properties of the input material, the method comprising the steps of:

[0013] • providing at least one identifier associated the input material, environmental impact data associated the input material and one or more validation input(s) associated with the generation of the environmental impact data;

[0014] • providing a validation rule set including one or more validation rules configured to validate the environmental impact data based on at least one of the validation inputs;

[0015] • selecting at least one validation rule from the validation rule set for at least one of the validation inputs and generating at least one validation score by applying the at least one validation rule to the at least one provided validation input;

[0016] • depending on validation score assigning validated environmental impact data to the at least one identifier associated with the input material, in particular assigning the environmental impact associated with the input material as validated environmental impact data to the at least one identifier associated with the input material.

[0017] In another aspect disclosed is an apparatus for validating environmental impact data associated with input material to be used for a production of one or more output material(s), wherein the environmental impact data relates to one or more environmental properties of the input material, the apparatus comprising:

[0018] • a data providing interface configured to provide at least one identifier associated the input material, environmental impact data associated the input material and configured to provide one or more validation input(s) associated with the generation of the environmental impact data;

[0019] • a rule providing interface configured to provide a validation rule set including one or more validation rules configured to validate environmental impact data based on the generation of the environmental impact data associated with the input material;

[0020] • a validation engine configured to select at least one validation rule from the validation rule set for at least one of the validation inputs, configured to generate at least one validation score by applying the at least one validation rule to the at least one provided validation input, and depending on validation score configured to assign validated environmental impact data to the at least one identifier associated with the input material.

[0021] In another aspect disclosed is an apparatus for validating environmental impact data associated with input material to be used for a production of one or more output material(s), wherein the environmental impact data relates to one or more environmental properties of the input material, the apparatus comprising: • a data providing interface configured to provide at least one identifier associated the input material, environmental impact data associated the input material and configured to provide one or more validation input(s) associated with the generation of the environmental impact data;

[0022] • a rule providing interface configured to provide a validation rule set including one or more validation rules configured to validate environmental impact data based on at least one of the validation inputs;

[0023] • a validation engine configured to select at least one validation rule from the validation rule set for at least one of the validation inputs, configured to generate at least one validation score by applying the at least one validation rule to the at least one provided validation input, and depending on validation score configured to assign validated environmental impact data to the at least one identifier associated with the input material, in particular configured to assign the environmental impact associated with the input material as validated environmental impact data to the at least one identifier associated with the input material.

[0024] In another aspect disclosed is a use of environmental impact data validated according to any of the methods disclosed herein for monitoring the environmental impact of a production of one or more output material(s) from one or more input material(s) associated with the validated environmental impact data.

[0025] In another aspect disclosed is a use of environmental impact data validated according to any of the methods disclosed herein for generating environmental impact data associated with one or more output material(s) produced based on the one or more input material(s) associated with the validated environmental impact data.

[0026] In a further aspect disclosed is a method in particular a computer-implemented method, for monitoring the environmental impact of the production of one or more output material(s) from one or more input material(s) associated with environmental impact data, wherein the environmental impact data associated with the one or more output material(s) is generated based on the environmental impact data associated with one or more input material(s) used to produce the one or more output material(s) and validated according to the methods or by the apparatuses disclosed herein.

[0027] In a further aspect disclosed is an apparatus for monitoring the environmental impact of a production of one or more output material(s) from one or more input material(s), wherein the environmental impact data associated with the one or more output material(s) is generated based on environmental impact data associated with one or more input material(s) used to produce the one or more output material(s) and validated according to the methods or by the apparatuses disclosed herein.

[0028] In another aspect disclosed is an input material associated with environmental impact data and one or more validation input(s) for validating the environmental impact data according to the methods or by the apparatuses disclosed herein.

[0029] In another aspect disclosed is an output material associated with environmental impact data, wherein the environmental impact data is generated based on environmental impact data associated with one or more input material(s) used to produce the output material, the environmental impact data associated with the one or more input material(s) being validated according to the methods or by the apparatuses disclosed herein.

[0030] In another aspect disclosed is a network node and / or a validation service configured to validate environmental impact according to any of the methods disclosed herein, e.g. for generating environmental impact data associated with one or more output material(s) produced based on the input material(s).

[0031] In another aspect disclosed is a network node, a data service and / or a validation service associated with validation instructions, which when executed be the network node, data service, validation service and / or computer element perform the methods disclosed herein.

[0032] In yet another aspect disclosed is a computer element, such as a computer program product or a machine-readable medium, with instructions, which when executed on one or more computing node(s) or processor(s) is configured to carry out the steps of the method(s) disclosed herein or configured to be carried out by the apparatus(es) disclosed herein.

[0033] Any disclosure, embodiments and examples described herein relate to the methods, the systems, apparatuses, uses, chemical products, input materials, output materials and computer elements lined out above and below. Advantageously, the benefits provided by any of the embodiments and examples equally apply to all other embodiments and examples.

[0034] EMBODIMENTS In the following, embodiments of the present disclosure will be outlined by ways of embodiments and / or examples. It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to said embodiments and / or examples.

[0035] The disclosure relates to the field of sustainable industrialization, in particular the monitoring of environmental impact in industrial manufacturing processes. Production networks undergo dynamic changes to reduce environmental impact. In particular chemical production networks are exposed to dynamic changes with regard to the input materials fed to such networks. Since the input materials contribute to the environmental impact of the chemical production network and output materials produced by such chemical production network, monitoring of the environmental impact associated with said input materials is challenging.

[0036] To reliably monitor the environmental impact of the production of output materials, the environmental impact of input materials provided to such production may be provided. This may be done by aggregating the environmental impact associated with the production of the input materials. However, the quality and reliability of such aggregated values needs to be ensured, since low quality or low reliability negatively impact the quality and reliability of monitoring the environmental impact of the production of output materials using such input materials.

[0037] By providing environmental impact data associated with input material(s), validation input(s) associated with the generation of the environmental impact data and validation rules, the environmental impact data associated with the input material(s) to be provided to the production for producing output material(s) from such input material(s) may be reliably validated. This enhances the quality of the environmental impact data associated with the input material(s) and used to monitor the environmental impact of the production producing output material(s) from such input material. As a result, the validation of environmental impact data based on the generation of such environmental impact data enables reliable monitoring of the production using such input material(s). Advantageously, the methods and apparatuses disclosed herein do not rely on high data traffic by requiring a full data set associated with the generation of the environmental impact data based on the production of the input material but only require certain properties of the data set associated with said generation of the environmental impact data. In other words, only certain properties related to the quality of the full data set used to generate the environmental impact data and the generation of the environmental impact data generation itself are required for validation and not the full data set. Since the properties are related to the quality of the full data set used to generate the environmental impact data and the environmental impact data generation itself, the validation remains meaningful without requiring transfer of large data set(s) used to generate the environmental impact data. This further reduces the environmental impact of the computing resources required to validate environmental impact data, while allowing for meaningful validation. In addition, this avoids transmitting confidential data included in the full data set to the validating entity while still allowing reliable and meaningful validation. This way, transparency on the quality of the environmental impact data associated with input materials may be enabled since sharing of confidential data with respect to the production of the input material is avoided. Such as transparency allows to control input material streams to the production based on the quality of the environmental impact data associated with such input materials, allows to control the environmental impact associated with the production of output materials) based on the quality of the environmental impact associated with the input materials.

[0038] Validating the provided environmental impact data associated with the input material(s) may include determining the accuracy and / or the quality and / or the integrity of the provided environmental impact data. The accuracy and / or quality and / or integrity of the provided environmental property data may relate to and / or may be reflected by the generated validation score.

[0039] Environmental impact data associated with input material(s) to be used for the production of one or more output material(s) may relate to any measure of the environmental impact of the input material(s). The environmental impact data may relate to one or more environmental properties of the input material(s). The environmental impact data may include one or more environmental properties of the input material(s).

[0040] The environmental property may indicate an environmental performance of the input material(s). The environmental property may relate to properties associated with the production of the input material(s). The environmental property may relate to the product carbon footprint, bio-based content, recycled content, biogenic carbon content or other suitable measures of the environmental impact as lined out below or any combinations thereof. The environmental property may relate to one or more characteristic(s) that are attributable to environmental impact of the input material(s). The environmental property may include environmental, technical, recyclability or circularity characteristics(s) associated with the environmental impact of the input material(s).

[0041] Environmental characteristic(s) may for example include carbon footprint, greenhouse gas emissions, resource usage, air emissions, ozone depletion potential, water pollution, noise pollution or eutrophication potential. Environmental characteristic(s) may for example include material characteristics related to the production of the input material(s) like made from bio based or recycled inputs. Technical characteristic(s) may specify or quantify input material performance at least indirectly associated with the environmental impact. Technical characteristic(s) may for example include input material composition data, bill of materials, input material specification data, input material component data, input material safety data, application property data, application instructions or input material quality data. Circularity characteristic(s) may specify or quantify the input material life cycle characteristics associated with circular uses. Circularity characteristic(s) may for example include recycling data, reuse rate, recycling rate, recycling loops, reuse reused input material performance, reused input material quality or the like. Recyclability characteristic(s) may specify or quantify the input material life cycle characteristics associated with recycling uses. Recyclability characteristic(s) may include the composition of the input material including specifically tailored constituents making the input material suitable for recycling. Recyclability characteristic(s) may for example include recycling data, recyclability data, or the like. Bio-based characteristic(s) may for example include bio-based content, biogenic content, renewable content or the like.

[0042] In an embodiment the at least one identifier associated the input material may relate to a hierarchical identifier structure including one or more material class identifier(s) relating to a material class, one or more material identifiers relating to materials included in a material class and / or one or more component identifier(s) relating to component(s) of the material. The hierarchical identifier structure may comprise at least one material class identifier linked to one or more material identifier(s). The material identifier(s) may further be linked to one or more component identifier(s) related to chemical components comprised in the material signified by the material identifier.

[0043] In another embodiment the one or more validation input(s) relate to one or more properties associated with input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data. Input material production data may include data collected or gathered for one or more production process(es) related to the production of the input material and used to generate the environmental impact data. Input material production data may include measured or calculated data related to the one or more production process(es).

[0044] Input material production data may include data related to one or more production process(es) related to the production of the input material(s). Properties associated with input material production data may relate to one or more quality indicators of the input material production data that signify the relevance or correlation of the input material production data to the input materials) provided to the production producing the one or more output material(s). Properties associated with input material production data may relate to the qualitative relevance or correlation of the input material production data to the input material provided to the production producing the one or more output material(s). In other words, the properties signify the quality of the input material production data with respect to the input material provided to the production producing the one or more output material(s). The at least one property may relate to one or more quality indicators of the input material production data that signify the correlation of the input material production data to the input material provided to the production producing the one or more output material(s). The property may relate to at least a technological, a geographical and / or a temporal correlation of the input material production data to the input material provided to the production producing the one or more output material(s). The one or more quality indicators of the input material production data may include at least a technological, a geographical and / or a temporal quality indicator.

[0045] In another embodiment the one or more validation input(s) relate to a technological correlation between the production, such as production processes and / or setup, used to generate the environmental impact data and the production, such as production processes and / or setup, used to produce the input material. The technological correlation may be associated with or relate to production process(es) used to produce the input material and the relation of the input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data to such production processes). The environmental impact data may be generated based on input material production data gathered from the non-limiting examples of one or more production process(es) used to produce the input material(s) provided to the production producing the one or more output materials), from one or more production process(es) of a same technology type producing an input material type associated with the input material(s), from one or more production process(es) of a different technology type producing a input material type associated with the input material(s), from one or more production process(es) for producing the input material associated with a production entity different to the entity providing the environmental impact data, from one or more production process(es) for producing different input material types, from laboratory measurements corresponding to the one or more production process(es) for producing the input material or input material type, from modelling the one or more production process(es) for producing the input material or input material type or any selection or combination thereof. Depending on the technology for which the input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data was gathered, the technological correlation may be determined.

[0046] In another embodiment the one or more validation input(s) relate to a geographical correlation between the production, such as production process(es) and / or setup, used to generate the environmental impact data and the production, such as production process(s) and / or setup, used to produce the input material(s). The geographical correlation may be associated with or relate to the geographical location of production process(es) and / or the production condition(s) used to produce the input material(s) and the relation of the input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data to such production process(es) and / or production conditions. The environmental impact data may be generated based on input material production data gathered from the non-limiting examples of one or more production locations used to produce the input material(s) provided to the production, e.g. the chemical production network, multiple production locations used to produce input material(s) including the location used to produce the input material(s) provided to the production, e.g. the chemical production network, different production locations used to produce input material(s) under production conditions that correspond to the production conditions of the production location used to produce input materials) provided to the production, e.g. the chemical production network, one or more production locations used to produce the input material(s) under production conditions different to the one or more production locations producing the input material provided to the production, e.g. the chemical production network, one or more production locations different to the one or more production locations producing the input material provided to the production, e.g. chemical production network, or any selection or combination thereof. Depending on where the input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data was gathered, the geographical correlation may be determined.

[0047] In another embodiment the one or more validation input(s) relate to a temporal correlation of the input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data. The temporal correlation of the input material production data may include the age of the input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data and / or the time range or the time span of the input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data. The temporal correlation may relate to the age of the input material production data and / or the time range / span covered by the input material production data. For example, the one or more validation input(s) may relate to the time period used for collecting the input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data. For example, the one or more validation inputs) may relate to the time range / span the input material production data covers. The time range / span may signify the range over which the input material production data was collected. Depending on the age and / or the time range / span of the input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data, the temporal correlation may be determined.

[0048] In another embodiment the one or more validation input(s) relate to a share of input material quantity covered by the environmental impact data, and / or a share, quantity or quantity share of input material the environmental impact data is applicable to and / or a share, quantity or quantity share of input material the environmental impact data is validated, to be validated or validatable for and / or a share, quantity or quantity share of input material the validation input(s) are related to. Depending on the share of the input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data applicable to the input material quantity, the correlation to the input material provided to the production producing the one or more output material(s) may be determined. The one or more validation input(s) may relate to a share of a quantity of input material provided to the production and being associated with environmental impact data.

[0049] In another embodiment, the validation rule(s) include or correspond to executable logic or computer-executable instructions configured to validate environmental impact data based on at least one of the validation inputs.

[0050] In another embodiment the at least one validation rule is selected based on an environmental impact data type and / or a validation input category. The validation rule set may include one or more validation rule(s). The validation rules set may include one or more validation rule(s) relating to different environmental properties provided by or included in the environmental impact data. This may also be referred to as environmental impact data type. The validation rules set may include one or more validation rule(s) relating to different validation input categories. The validation input categories may relate to technological, geographical and / or temporal properties of the input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data. The validation input categories may relate to at least a technological correlation of input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data, a geographical correlation of input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data, a temporal correlation of input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data, a share of input material quantity covered by the environmental impact data, and / or a share, quantity or quantity share of input material the environmental impact data is applicable to and / or a share, quantity or quantity share of input material the environmental impact data is validated, to be validated or validatable for and / or a share, quantity or quantity share of input material the validation inputs are related to or any combination or selection thereof. The validation input categories may relate to properties of the generation process used to generate the environmental impact data.

[0051] In another embodiment the at least one validation rule is configured to generate a validation score based one or more properties associated with input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data. The validation rule(s) may be configured to generate a validation score based on the one or more validation input(s). The validation score may be determined per validation input category, per environmental impact data type and / or per validation input.

[0052] In another embodiment the at least one validation rule is configured to generate a validation score based on at least a technological correlation of input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data to the input material provided to the production producing the one or more output material(s), a geographical correlation of input production data used to generate the environmental impact data to the input material provided to the production producing the one or more output material(s), a temporal correlation of input production data used to generate the environmental impact data, a share of input material quantity covered by the environmental impact data, and / or a share, quantity or quantity share of input material the environmental impact data is applicable to and / or a share, quantity or quantity share of input material the environmental impact data is validated, to be validated or validatable for and / or a share, quantity or quantity share of input material the validation inputs are related to or any combination or selection thereof.

[0053] In another embodiment the provided environmental impact data is validated if the validation score indicates that provided environmental impact data is at least partially validated, wherein at least the validated part of the environmental impact data is assigned to the at least one identifier associated with the input material(s). In another embodiment the provided environmental impact data is not validated if the validation score indicates that the provided environmental impact data is at least partially non-validated, wherein non-validated environmental impact data is replaced by a reference environmental impact data, wherein the reference environmental impact data is assigned as validated environmental impact data to the at least one identifier associated with the input material(s). The reference environmental impact data may be retrieved, e.g. from a database, based on the at least one identifier associated with the input material. In case of the hierarchical identifier structure the reference environmental impact data may be retrieved, e.g. from a database, based on the component identifier linked to the material or material class identifier. In another embodiment, the provided environmental impact data is not validated if the validation score indicates that the provided environmental impact data is at least partially non-validated, wherein the input material associated with the non-validated environmental impact data is rejected, e.g. is not provided to the production producing the one or more output material(s).

[0054] In another embodiment the validation score per validation input is aggregated and validated environmental impact data is assigned to the at least one identifier associated with the input material based on the aggregated score. The aggregated score may include weighted summed scores and / or summed scores. The aggregated score may be determined per validation input category and / or per environmental property included in the environmental impact data.

[0055] In another embodiment further comprising the step of providing the validated environmental impact data for monitoring the environmental impact of the production producing the one or more output material(s) from the input material. In another embodiment the validated environmental impact data may be stored including a time stamp signifying the retrieval and / or validation of the validated environmental impact data. Based on the time stamp and a pre-defined validation period the method for validation may be triggered to request environmental impact data associated the input material and one or more validation input(s) associated with the environmental impact data. This way the validated environmental impact data may be updated in predetermined time frames. Advantageously the method hence allows for reliable data validation taking account of changes in the provided environmental impact data associated with the input material and / or the one or more validation inputs) associated with the environmental impact data.

[0056] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0057] In the following, the present disclosure is further described with reference to the enclosed figures. The same reference numbers in the drawings and this disclosure are intended to refer to the same or like elements, components, and / or parts.

[0058] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0059] Fig. 1 illustrates an example of connected production sites with multiple input and output material flows.

[0060] Fig. 2 illustrates schematically an example of generating and providing environmental impact data at one production stage of the value chain.

[0061] Fig. 3 illustrates schematically an example of retrieving and validating environmental impact data at one production stage of the value chain.

[0062] Figs. 4a, b illustrate examples of providing validation inputs associated with environmental impact data to a validation engine.

[0063] Fig. 5 illustrates an example flowchart of a method for validating environmental impact data based on one or more validation input(s).

[0064] Fig. 6 illustrates an example flowchart of a method for validating input data.

[0065] Fig. 7 illustrates an example outcome of the validation per validation input category.

[0066] Fig 8. illustrates an example data structure for different validation categories. Fig. 9 illustrates an example flowchart of a method for validating the environmental impact data based on aggregated validation scores.

[0067] Fig. 10 illustrates another example flowchart of a method for validating environmental impact data based on validation input categories.

[0068] Fig. 11 illustrates an example flowchart of a method for monitoring environmental impact of a chemical production and / or one or more chemical material(s).

[0069] Fig. 12 illustrates an example decentral network environment with network nodes configured to provide the environmental impact data, the validation inputs or the validated environmental impact data in association with providing the input material(s).

[0070] The following embodiments are mere examples for implementing the methods, apparatuses, services disclosed herein in connection with production processes and shall not be considered limiting.

[0071] Fig. 1 illustrates an example of connected production sites with multiple input and output material flows.

[0072] The production sites 100, 102, 104 illustrated in Fig. 1 may include a chemical production network 100 and upstream production systems 102, 104 producing input material(s) for the chemical production network. The upstream production systems 102, 104 may produce input materials) for the chemical production network 100 through recycling processes, refinery processes or other chemical and / or physical processes suitable to produce input material(s) for the chemical production network 100. The chemical production network 100 may produce multiple output materials 118, 120, 122 from multiple input materials 114, 116 provided to the chemical production network 100. The chemical production network 100 may form part of a discrete product supply chain, wherein the discrete product is produced from one or more chemical outputs, chemical end-products or chemical output materials provided by the chemical production network 100. The chemical production network 100 may include multiple chemical processes, which may be connected to form a network with multiple production chains interrelated via their material flows.

[0073] For production of the input materials 114, 116 to be provided to the chemical production network 100, the upstream production systems 102, 104 may use input materials 106-112 and associated production processes. The use of input materials 106-112 and the production processes of the upstream production systems 102, 104 may be associated with an environmental impact. One non limiting example is greenhouse gas emissions associated with the use of input materials 106-112 and the production processes of the upstream production systems 102, 104.

[0074] As a result, the input materials 114, 116 to be provided to the chemical production network 100 may be associated with an environmental impact that stems from the use of input materials 106- 112 and the associated production processes of the upstream production systems 102, 104.

[0075] Similarly, the use of the input materials 114, 116 provided to the chemical production network 100 may affect the environmental impact of the chemical production network 100 and the output materials 118, 120, 122 it produces. To monitor the environmental impact across producers participating in the value chain, the environmental impact associated with the input materials 114, 116 provided to the chemical production network 100 may be provided in the form of environmental impact data to an operating system of the chemical production network 100. The environmental impact data may include one or more aggregated values signifying the environment impact. One non limiting example is greenhouse gas emissions associated with the use of the input materials 106-112 and the associated production processes of the upstream production systems 102, 104. Such aggregated value may include the product carbon footprint of the input materials 114, 116 to be provided to the chemical production network 100. Based on the environmental impact data associated with input materials 114, 116 provided to the operating system of the chemical production network 100, the environmental impact of said input materials 114, 116 may be considered upon determining the environmental impact data of the output materials 118, 120, 122 produced by the chemical production network 100. Hence providing reliable environmental impact data from one producer of input materials 114, 116 to another producer using such input materials 114, 116 is important to further monitor the environmental impact of output products produced by further participants of the supply chain.

[0076] Particularly, for the monitoring of environmental impact of the chemical production network 100 or the output materials 118, 120, 122 produced by the chemical production network 100 the input material flows to the chemical production network 100 play an important role. This becomes more challenging as input material streams to chemical production networks 100 diversify. Environmental impact of the input materials 114, 116 may depend on the production processes and raw materials used to produce the input materials 114, 116. Different input materials 114, 116 hence may carry different environmental impacts. Likewise, similar input materials 114, 116 produced by different production processes may hence carry different environmental impacts. To monitor environmental impact of the chemical production network 100 or the output materials 119, 120, 122 produced by the chemical production network 100 environmental impact of each input material entering the network 100 needs to be taken into account. The environmental impact may be provided by the producer of the input materials 114, 116. The environmental impact may be quantified by way of environmental impact data including, but not limited to, for example one or more emission properties such as product carbon footprint, recycled content, biobased content, biogenic carbon content or any other suitable measure. The receiver of the input material(s) such as the chemical production network 100 hence requires reliable environmental impact data to reliably monitor the environmental impact of the chemical production network 100 and / or the output materials 118, 120, 122 produced by the chemical production network 100. The embodiments and examples described below illustrate measures to ensure the reliability of the environmental impact data associated with input materials, such as input materials 114, 116. In addition, the embodiments and examples described below enable reliable monitoring of input materials 114, 116 entering the chemical production network 100, in particular with respect to their environmental impact. This in turn allows to reliably monitor the environmental impact of the chemical production network 100 and / or the output materials 118, 120, 122 produced by the chemical production network 100.

[0077] Fig. 2 illustrates schematically an example of generating and providing environmental impact data at one production stage of the value chain.

[0078] As described in the context of Fig. 1 , the producer at each stage of the value chain may determine environmental impact data to track the environmental impact of the input material production and pass such impact on to the next participant (e.g. downstream participant) in the value chain. The environmental impact data may be generated per production stage of the value chain. For example, referring back to Fig. 1 , the upstream producers operating upstream production systems 102, 104 may generate environmental impact data and provide such data together with the input materials, such as input materials 114, 116, to the chemical producer operating the chemical production network 100. The illustration of Fig. 2 may relate to the generation of environmental impact data by any participant of the value chain. For the sake of simplification, the following description will focus on the upstream production systems 102, 104 illustrated in Fig. 1 . Further for the sake of simplification, the following description will focus on the product carbon footprint as one environmental impact data point. This should not be considered limiting. The concepts described are similarly applicable to other participants and / or other environmental impact data.

[0079] The upstream producers may operate production systems 102, 104 including production facility

[0080] 200 and a production operating system 202. On entry of input material 204 to the upstream production facility (signified by the system boundary 205), the environmental impact data (hereinafter referred to Co2e) associated with the input material 204 may be provided to the production operating system 202. The environmental impact data Co2e may relate to a digital identifier ID1 associated with the input material 204.

[0081] For production of the output material 206 by production facility 200, the input material 204 may be processed through e.g. recycling processes, refinery processes or other chemical and / or physical process setups of the production facility 200 to produce the output material 206. Such processes require input materials 204 to be processed to output materials 206, energy supply to run the production processes and production process conditions to transform the input materials 204 to output materials 206.

[0082] An inbound allocator 208 may be configured to retrieve the environmental impact data of the input material 204 and to provide such data to carbon footprint (CF) generator 210. A process data provider 212 may be configured to gather process data associated with the processing of the input material(s) 204 to produce the output material(s) 206. The process data may be gathered from one or more production processes of production facility 200 producing the output materials) 206. The process data provider 212 may be configured to gather energy data associated with the energy consumption of the processing. The process data provider 212 may be configured to provide the process data and the energy data to the CF generator 210. The CF generator 212 may be configured to determine the carbon footprint of the output material(s) 206 produced by the production facility 200. The carbon footprint of the of the output material(s) 206 may be determined based on the process data, the energy data and the carbon footprint of the input material(s) 204 used to produce the output material(s) 206.

[0083] The CF generator 210 may be configured to determine the carbon footprint of the output materials) 206 produced by the production facility 200. The carbon footprint may be generated from process data, the energy data and the carbon footprint of the input material(s) 204 collected over a time range / span or defined time period for certain output materials 206. The carbon footprint may hence correspond to an aggregated time value determined from historical data. Such time aggregated carbon footprint may be provided for all output materials 206. In other word the carbon footprint may not be derived from a real time data for each output material but may be derived from historic data and may be aggregated over a time range. The aggregated carbon footprint may be stored in a data base and provided for each output material 206 exiting the system boundary of the production facility 200. In addition to the carbon footprint, validation input(s) may be generated upon generation of the carbon footprint. For example, a validation input generator 214 may provide validation input(s) in association with the carbon footprint generated by the CF generator 210. The validation inputs may be provided to the CF generator 210 and may be linked to the generated carbon footprint (CF). The validation input generator 214 may be configured to generate and provide validation input(s) of different categories. For example, validation input(s) may relate to the technical data generation scheme according to which the CF generator 210 generates the carbon footprint (CF). Further for example, validation input(s) may relate to technological correlation data indicating the correlation between the production processes from which the process data, energy data or input material data used to generate the carbon footprint are originating and the production processes used to produce the output material 206. Further for example, validation input(s) may relate to geographical correlation data indicating the correlation between the location of production processes from which the process data, energy data or input material data used to generate the carbon footprint are originating and the location of production processes used to produce the output material 206. Further for example, validation input(s) may relate to temporal correlation data indicating the age and / or time range of the process data, energy data or input material data used to generate the carbon footprint. Further for example, validation inputs) may relate to the relevance of the carbon footprint for the input materials indicating the share of the total volume or quantity of input material to be used in a downstream production to which the carbon footprint applies. Further for example, validation input(s) may relate to verification and / or certification schemes applied to the carbon footprint generation.

[0084] On output material 206 exiting the production facility, an identifier provider 218 may be configured to provide an output material identifier ID2 associated with the output material 206 produced by the production facility 200 and provided at the exit point of the production facility 200.

[0085] An outbound assignor 216 may be configured to assign the determined carbon footprint to the output material identifier ID2. Further environmental impact data including the product carbon footprint may be assigned to the at least one output material identifier ID2. At least a part of the validation input(s) may be assigned to the at least one output material identifier ID2. The outbound assignor 216 may be configured to provide the environmental impact data, in particular the carbon footprint, associated with the output material to another operating system as will be described in more detail in the context of Figs. 3, 4a and 4b. The outbound assignor 216 may further be configured to provide the validation input(s) associated with the generation of the environmental impact data to another operating system as will be described in more detail in the context of Figs. 3, 4a and 4b. Fig. 3 illustrates schematically an example of retrieving and validating environmental impact data at one production stage of the value chain.

[0086] As described in the context of Figs. 1 and 2 the chemical production network 100 and operations of the chemical production network 100 may be monitored and / or controlled by a production operating system 202. Input materials 204 such as naphtha, LNG, pyrolysis oil, bio-naphtha or bio-gas may be provided to the chemical production network 100. The input materials 204 may be used in the chemical production network 100 to produce one or more output material(s) 206 from the input materials 204. The input material(s) may be produced as output material(s) by upstream producers, such as illustrated in Fig. 2.

[0087] On entry of the input material 204, environmental impact data, for example the product carbon footprint, associated with the input material 204 may be provided via a communication network to a computing interface of the production operating system 202. A data provider may be configured to provide environmental impact data related to the one or more input material(s) 204 to a computing interface configured to validate environmental impact data associated with the input materials 206. The environmental impact data may include the input material identifier ID2 and the product carbon footprint associated with the input materials 204. The input material identifier ID2 may be associated with the physical entity of the input material 204 entering the chemical production network 100. The input material identifier ID2 may be linked to the carbon footprint of the input material 204 as environmental attribute. The environmental impact data may be provided on, prior or after providing of the one or more input material(s) 204 at entry points to the chemical production network 100.

[0088] The inbound allocator 208 may be configured to retrieve the environmental impact data and to provide such data to validation engine 220. The inbound allocator 208 may be configured to retrieve the environmental impact data based on the input material identifier ID2. The validation engine 220 may be configured to validate the environmental impact data based on validation inputs). The validation input(s) may be provided to validation engine 220 as described in the context of Figs. 4a and 4b. The configuration and functionalities of the validation engine 220 are described in further detail in the context of Figs. 4-10. If the provided environmental impact data, such as the carbon footprint, passes validation, the validation engine may be configured to provide the retrieved environmental impact data such as the carbon footprint as validated environmental impact data to the CF generator 212. If the provided environmental impact data, such as the carbon footprint, fails validation, the validation engine may be configured to request resend of the data or review of the data by the environmental impact data provider. If the provided environmental impact data, such as the carbon footprint, fails validation, the validation engine may be configured to reject the environmental impact data such as the carbon footprint and may not provide such data to the CF generator 212 for further processing. For example, a reference value may be provided to the CF generator 212 for further processing, or the input material 204 may be rejected and may not enter chemical production network 100 or any chemical processes) performed within chemical production network 100.

[0089] A process data provider 212 may be configured to gather process data associated with the processing of the input material(s) 204 to produce the output material(s) 206. The process data provider 212 may be configured to gather energy data associated with the energy consumption of the processing. The process data provider 212 may be configured to provide the process data and the energy data to the CF generator 210.

[0090] The CF generator 210 may be configured to determine the carbon footprint of the output material 206 produced by the chemical production network 100. The carbon footprint of the of the output material 206 may be determined based on the process data, the energy data and the carbon footprint of the input material(s) 204 used to produce the output material(s) 206. The carbon footprint of the input material(s) 204 may correspond at least in part to carbon footprints) validated by validation engine 220. The carbon footprint may be generated from the process data, the energy data and the carbon footprint of the input material(s) 204 collected over a time range for certain output materials 206. The carbon footprint may hence be an aggregated time value determined from historical data. Such time aggregated carbon footprint may be provided for all output materials 206. In other words, the carbon footprint may not be derived from real time data for each output material 206 but may be derived from historic data and may be aggregated over a time range. The aggregated carbon footprint may be stored in a data base and provided for each output material 206 exiting the system boundary of the chemical production network 100.

[0091] On output material 206 exiting the chemical production network 100, an identifier provider 216 may be configured to provide the output material identifier ID3 associated with the output material 206 produced by the chemical production network 100 and provided at the exit point of the chemical production network 100. An outbound assignor 218 may be configured to assign the determined carbon footprint to the output material identifier ID3. Further environmental impact data including the product carbon footprint may be assigned to the at least one output material identifier ID3. The outbound assignor 218 may be configured to provide the environmental impact data, in particular the carbon footprint, associated with the output material to another operating system. The operating system may be associated with a downstream production using the output material 206 as input material to produce one or more further output material(s). Figs. 4a, b illustrate examples of providing validation inputs associated with environmental impact data to a validation engine.

[0092] The simplified system line outs illustrated in Figs. 4a, b may correspond to the more detailed system line outs illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. Figs. 4a, b illustrate two production operating systems 1 and 2. Production system 1 may comprise the validation input generator 214, as e.g. illustrated in the context of Fig. 2. Production system 2 may comprise the validation engine 220, as e.g. illustrated in the context of Fig. 3. The validation input generator 214 may be configured to generate and provide validation input(s) to the validation engine 220. Validation input(s) may be provided together with the environmental impact data such as the PCF (product carbon footprint) in association with the input material identifier.

[0093] In the embodiment of Fig. 4a, the validation engine 220 may be configured to generate a validation input data structure 224 that may serve as a template for validation inputs associated with the environmental impact data concerned. The validation engine 220 may be configured to request validation input(s) from the validation input generator 214. The validation engine 220 may be configured to provide the validation input data structure to the validation input generator 214. The validation input generator 214 may be configured to generate the validation input(s) according to the validation input data structure. The validation input generator 214 may be configured to provide the validation input(s) according to the validation input data structure 224 to the validation engine 220. The validation input generator 214 may be configured to provide the environmental impact data and associated validation input(s) according to the validation input data structure 224 to the validation engine 220. The validation engine 220 may be configured to validate the environmental impact data based on validation input data structure 224 populated with environmental impact data and associated validation input(s) by validation input generator 214.

[0094] In the embodiment of Fig. 4b the validation input generator 214 may be configured to generate and provide the validation input(s) according to the validation input data structure 224. The validation engine 220 may be configured to request validation input(s) from the validation input generator 214. The validation input generator 214 may be configured to generate the validation inputs) according to the validation input data structure 224. The validation input generator 214 may be configured to provide the validation input(s) according to the validation input data structure 224 to the validation engine 220. The validation input generator 214 may be configured to provide the environmental impact data and associated validation input(s) according to the validation input data structure 224 to the validation engine 220. The validation engine 220 may be configured to validate the environmental impact data 224 based on the validation input data structure 224 populated with environmental impact data and associated validation input(s) by validation input generator 214.

[0095] Other embodiments for generating and providing validation input(s) are possible and the examples shown in Figs. 4a, b shall not be considered limiting. For example, the environmental impact data may be provided separately from the validation input(s) associated with the environmental impact data.

[0096] Fig. 5 illustrates an example flowchart of a method for validating environmental impact data based on one or more validation input(s). The environmental impact data may be associated with input material to be provided to a production for producing one or more output material(s).

[0097] Input material to be used for producing output materials e.g. by the chemical production network 100 illustrated Figs. 1 to 3, may be associated with digital identifiers signifying the physical identity of the input material such as the producer of the input material, the input material type, the input material batch, the input material flow over a certain time range, the input material name, the production location and / or the target location for the input material to be used. Such information may be provided as data entries to a digital user interface such as a display or a computing interface and the provided information may be associated with the digital identifier. This way the input materials may be characterized and uniquely linked to digital identifiers.

[0098] The digital identifier(s), the environmental data and one or more validation input(s) associated with the input material may be provided. The environmental impact data and the one or more validation input(s) may be linked or related to the digital identifier. The environmental impact data may relate to any measure of the environmental impact of the input material. The environmental impact data may include one or more environmental properties of the input material. The environmental property may indicate an environmental performance of the input material. The environmental property may relate to properties of the production of the input material. The environmental property may relate to one or more characteristic(s) that are attributable to environmental impact of the input material. The environmental property may include environmental, technical, recyclability or circularity characteristics(s) associated with the environmental impact of the input material.

[0099] Environmental characteristic(s) may specify or quantify ecological criteria associated with the products environmental impact. Environmental characteristic(s) may be or may be produced from measurements taken during the lifecycle of one or more product(s). Environmental characteristics may be determined at any stage of the product lifecycle and may characterize the environmental impact of the product for such stage or up to such stage. Environmental characteristics) may for example include carbon footprint, greenhouse gas emissions, resource usage, air emissions, ozone depletion potential, water pollution, noise pollution or eutrophication potential. Environmental characteristic(s) may for example include product characteristics related to the production of the product like bio based, vegan, halal, kosher, palm oil-free, natural or the like.

[0100] Technical characteristic(s) may specify or quantify product performance at least indirectly associated with the environmental impact. Technical characteristic(s) may be or may be produced from measurements taken during the lifecycle of one or more product(s). Technical characteristics may be determined at any stage of the product lifecycle and may characterize the product performance for such stage or up to such stage. Technical characteristic(s) may for example include product composition data, bill of materials, product specification data, product component data, product safety data, application property data, application instructions or product quality data.

[0101] Circularity characteristic(s) may specify or quantify the products life cycle characteristics associated with circular uses. Circularity characteristic(s) may be or may be produced from measurements taken during the lifecycle of one or more product(s). Circularity characteristic(s) may be or may be produced from circular data recorded in one or more prior lifecycle(s) including reuse. Circularity characteristics may be determined at any stage of the product lifecycle and may characterize the reuse or recycling performance for such stage or up to such stage. Circularity characteristic(s) may for example include recycling data, reuse rate, recycling rate, recycling loops, reuse reused product performance, reused product quality or the like.

[0102] Recyclability characteristic(s) may specify or quantify the material or product life cycle characteristics associated with recycling uses. Recyclability characteristic(s) may include the composition of the material including specifically tailored constituents making the material suitable for recycling. Recyclability characteristic(s) may be or may be produced from measurements taken during the lifecycle of one or more materials or product(s). Recyclability characteristic(s) may be or may be produced from recycling data recorded in one or more prior lifecycle(s). Recyclability characteristics may be determined at any stage of the material or product lifecycle and may characterize the recycling performance for such stage or up to such stage. Recyclability characteristics) may for example include recycling data, recyclability data, or the like. The environmental properties may relate to the product carbon footprint, bio-based content, recycled content, biogenic carbon content or other suitable measures of the environmental impact as lined out above or any combinations thereof.

[0103] The validation input(s) may relate to the generation of the environmental impact data associated with the input material such as described for example in the context of Figs. 2 and 3. The validation input(s) may relate to a technical data generation scheme according to which the environmental impact data was generated. The scheme may relate to standards such as ISO 14067, ISO 14040 / 44, PAS 2050 or the GHG Protocol Product Standard if the environmental impact data includes at least one product carbon footprint of the input material. The scheme may relate to other standards or certifications depending on the environmental impact data.

[0104] The one or more validation input(s) may relate to input material production data associated with the production of the input material. The one or more validation input(s) may relate to input material production data including process data gathered from production of the input material, energy data related to energy usage for producing the input material and / or the environmental property of the materials used to produce the input material. The one or more validation input(s) may relate to a technological correlation, a geographical correlation and / or a temporal correlation of input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data to the production of the input material.

[0105] The technological correlation may relate to production process(es) used to produce the input material and the relation of the input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data to such production process(es). For example, the environmental impact data may be generated based on input material production data gathered o from one or more production process(es) used to produce the input material provided to the chemical production network, o from one or more production process(es) of the same technology type producing the input material, o from one or more production process(es) of the different technology type producing the input material, o from one or more production process(es) for producing the input material of another production entity, o from one or more production process(es) for producing different input material, o from laboratory measurements corresponding to the one or more production process(es) for producing the input material, o from modelling the one or more production process(es) for producing the input material. Depending on the input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data, the technological correlation may be determined. The higher the technological correlation the higher the quality of the environmental impact data.

[0106] The geographical correlation may relate to the location of production process(es) and / or the production condition(s) used to produce the input material and the relation of the input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data to such production processes). For example, the environmental impact data may be generated based on input material production data gathered from o one or more production locations used to produce the input material provided to the chemical production network, o multiple production locations used to produce input material including the location used to produce the input material provided to the chemical production network, o different production locations used to produce the input material under production conditions that correspond to the production conditions of the production location used to produce the input material provided to the chemical production network, o from one or more production locations used to produce the input material under production conditions different to the one or more production locations producing the input material provided to the chemical production network, o from one or more production locations different to the one or more production locations producing the input material provided to the chemical production network.

[0107] Depending on where the input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data was gathered, the geographical correlation may be determined. The higher the geographical correlation the higher the quality of the environmental impact data.

[0108] The temporal correlation may relate to the age of the generation data and / or the time range covered by the input material production data. For example, the one or more validation input(s) may relate to the time period the input material production data used for determining environmental impact data was collected. The time period may signify the maximum age of the input material production data. For example, the one or more validation input(s) may relate to the time period the input material production data covers. The time period may signify the period over which the input material production data was collected. Depending on age and / or time period covered, the temporal correlation may be determined. The lower the age and / or the larger the time period covered, the higher the temporal correlation from statistical perspective and the higher the quality of the environmental impact data. The one or more validation input(s) may relate to a share of input material quantity covered by the environmental impact data and / or a share, quantity or quantity share of input material the environmental impact data is applicable to and / or a share, quantity or quantity share of input material the environmental impact data is validated, to be validated or validatable for and / or a share, quantity or quantity share of input material the validation inputs are related to. For example, the share may relate to how much of the input material quantity supplied to the chemical production network is represented by or associated with the input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data. Depending on share, the correlation between input material produced and input material production data used for generation of the environmental impact data may be determined. The higher the share the higher the quality of the environmental impact data. The one or more validation input(s) may relate to the temporal correlation and the share of input material quantity covered by the environmental impact data.

[0109] The one or more validation input(s) may relate to input material production data gathered or validated at least partially from measurement. The one or more validation input(s) may relate to the validation of the environmental impact data. The one or more validation input(s) may relate to a verification and / or certification mechanism used for the environmental impact data. The one or more validation input(s) may relate to input material production type such as validated, measured, calculated or approximated. The validation input(s) may relate to input material production data including environmental impact data associated with raw material used to produce the input material. The validation input(s) may relate to allocation scheme(s) used for generation of environmental impact data.

[0110] Such information may be provided as entries to a digital user interface such as a display or a computing interface and the provided information may be associated with the digital identifier of the input material. To reliably track the environmental impact of the input material, the digital identifiers associated with the input material may be linked to or related to environmental impact data and the one or more validation input(s). This way the environmental impact data and associated validation input(s) may be characterized and uniquely linked to digital identifiers.

[0111] A validation rule set including one or more validation rule(s) configured to validate environmental impact data based on the generation of the environmental impact data associated with the input material may be provided. The validation rule(s) may be configured to validate the environmental impact data based on the one or more validation input(s). The validation rules may correspond to or include executable logic or computer-executable instructions. The logic or instructions may be configured to validate the environmental impact data based on the generation of the environmental impact data. The generation of the environmental impact data may be signified by or associated with or relate to the one or more validation input(s). The logic or instructions may be configured to validate the environmental impact data based on at least one of the validation inputs. The validation rules may be configured to generate a validation score. The validation rule(s) may include computer-executable instructions or executable logic to map validation input(s) to one or more validation score(s). The one or more validation rules may relate to a mapping of the validation input to the validation score per validation input.

[0112] Per validation input category at least one validation rule from the validation rule set may be selected. The validation categories may include a check on the input data, such as validation inputs) and / or environmental impact data provided, the technical scheme according to which the environmental impact data was generated, the technological correlation, the geographical correlation, the temporal correlation, the data completeness, the verification and / or certification mechanism used for the data generation of the environmental impact data, one or more reference's) for the environmental impact data or a combination thereof. The validation rule set may include one or more validation rule(s) per validation category. The selection may be dynamic and / or static based on validation input and validation rule pairs. For example, validation input and validation rule pairs may be pre-defined. The one or more validation rules may be configured to generate the validation score per validation input. The validation rules may be configured to generate a pass, review or fail per validation input and / or validation rule as will be described further in the example of Fig. 6.

[0113] At least one validation score may be generated by applying the at least one validation rule to at least one of the validation inputs. As illustrated in Fig. 7, the validation rule may be applied to the validation input data, such as validation input(s) and / or environmental impact data. A fail, resend, request for review or pass may be assigned per validation input and associated validation rule depending on the validation score. For example, one or more validation rules may be configured to generate the validation score per validation input o based on input material production data including process data gathered from production of the input material, energy data related to energy usage for producing the input material and on or more emission properties of the materials used to produce the input material, and / or o based on the time period used for collecting the input material production data used for determining environmental impact data, and / or o based on the share of input material quantity covered by the environmental impact data and / or the share, quantity or quantity share of input material the environmental impact data is applicable to and / or the share, quantity or quantity share of input material the environmental impact data is validated, to be validated or validatable for and / or the share, quantity or quantity share of input material the validation inputs are related to.

[0114] Further for example, one or more validation rules may be configured to generate the validation score based on one or more input material production data property / ies associated with the input material. Further for example, one or more validation rules may be configured to generate the validation score based the technological correlation, the geographical correlation and / or the temporal correlation of input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data to the input material provided to the production producing the one or more output materials).

[0115] Depending on the validation score, the environmental impact data may be valid or non-valid. If the validation score indicates a pass, the validated environmental impact data may be assigned to the identifier associated with the input material. If the validation score indicates a pass, the provided environmental impact data may be assigned as validated environmental impact data to the identifier associated with the input material. For example, the validated environmental impact data may be provided to the CF generator 212 for further processing, and the input material 204 may be fed to the chemical production network 100. If the provided environmental impact data, such as the carbon footprint, fails validation, the validation engine may be configured to request resend of the data or review of the data by the environmental impact data provider. If the validation score indicates a fail, the environmental impact data may not be assigned to the identifier associated with the input material. For example, a reference value may be provided to the CF generator 212 for further processing, or the input material 204 may be rejected and may not be provided to the chemical production network 100, in particular may not be provided to any production process(es) performed within the chemical production network 100.

[0116] Through validation of the environmental impact data associated with input material(s), the quality of the data generation and hence reliability of such data can be assessed. This way the reliability of monitoring the environmental impact of the chemical production network 100 or the output materials 118, 120, 122 produced by the chemical production network 100 can be increased. By using validation input(s) associated with the generation of the environmental impact data, the use of the full data set (such as the input material production data) used to generate the environmental impact data can be avoided while allowing for meaningful and reliable validation of such environmental impact data. This avoids transmitting confidential data included in the full data set to the validating entity while still allowing reliable and meaningful validation. This way, transparency on the quality of the environmental impact data associated with input materials may be enabled since sharing of confidential data with respect to the production of the input material is avoided. Such as transparency allows to control input material streams to the production based on the quality of the environmental impact data associated with such input materials, allows to control the environmental impact associated with the production of output materials) based on the quality of the environmental impact associated with the input materials.

[0117] Fig. 6 illustrates an example flowchart of a method for validating input data. The input data may be associated with an input material. The input data may include input material identifier(s), environmental impact data associated with the input data and one or more validation input(s) associated with the generation of the environmental property data.

[0118] Based on at least one of the validation input(s) at least one validation rule from the validation rule set may be selected as described in the context of Fig. 5. The selected validation rule may be applied to respective validation input. Per applied validation rule a status flag signifying a pass, review or fail of respective validation input may be set. The status flag may include the validation score per applied validation rule.

[0119] Fig. 7 illustrates an example outcome of the validation of environmental impact data per validation input category.

[0120] In the example of Fig. 7, the validation input categories include the technical scheme according to which the environmental impact data was generated, the technological correlation, the geographical correlation, the temporal correlation, the data completeness, the verification and / or certification mechanism used for the generation of the environmental impact data, one or more reference(es) for the environmental impact data.

[0121] In the example of Fig. 7, the result of the application of the validation rule to the respective validation input is illustrated for multiple input materials per validation input category. Here each row may signify an input material such as input material 1 in row 1, input material 2 in row 2 etc. The results are indicated by a status flag associated with the PCF value. The status flag may indicate in validation, passed, requested for review or failed. The status flag may be updated during or in the scope of the validation process as described in the context of Figs. 5 and 6. The status flag may include a validation score signifying the validation status. For example, validation scores may be determined per validation rule and the validation may fail or requested to be reviews based on individual scores, for example as illustrated for the PCF value shown in the last row of Fig. 7.

[0122] Fig 8. illustrates an example data structure for different validation input categories. The input data structure may include the validation inputs that may correspond to the validation rules. The validation rules may include the scoring system assigning scores per validation input. The validation inputs may be structured according to validation input categories. One possible data structure for the carbon footprint is illustrated in Fig. 8. The validation input categories may relate to quality indicators for the environmental impact data in particular with respect to the underlying primary input material production data and calculation mechanisms used to generate the environmental impact data. The validation input categories may include the technical scheme according to which the environmental impact data was generated, the technological correlation, the geographical correlation, the temporal correlation, the data completeness, the verification and / or certification mechanism used for the generation of the environmental impact data including reliability and review mechanisms and / or one or more reference(es) for the environmental impact data. Other data structures and validation input categories may be similarly applicable. Other data structures and validation input categories may be applicable to other environmental properties such as recycled or bio-based content.

[0123] Fig. 9 illustrates an example flowchart of a method for validating environmental impact data based on aggregated scores. The environmental impact data may be associated with input material to be provided to a production for producing one or more output material(s).

[0124] The method illustrated in Fig. 9 corresponds to the method illustrated and described in the context of Figs. 5 and 6. An identifier associated with the input material may be provided. A validation rule set configured to validate the environmental impact data may be provided. Environmental impact data and validation input(s) may be provided. Per validation input at least one validation rule may be selected, and the validation score may be generated.

[0125] In addition or alternatively to Figs. 5 and 6, the validation scores per validation input may be aggregated. For example, a total validation score may be provided by a weighted or non-weighted sum. Based on the aggregated validation score the environmental impact data may be validated as pass, review or fail. On pass, the validated environmental impact data or validated parts thereof may be assigned to the identifier associated with the input material. For example, the validated environmental impact data may be provided for monitoring the environmental impact of the chemical production network 100 or output materials produced by the chemical production network 100. Further for example, the input material associated with validated environmental impact data may be provided to the chemical production network 100. On fail, the non-vali- dated environmental impact data or non-validated parts thereof associated with input material may be disregarded. Reference data may be assigned to the identifier associated with the input material or the input material may be rejected (e.g. may not be provided to the chemical production network 100).

[0126] Fig. 10 illustrates another example flowchart of a method for validating environmental impact data based on validation input categories. The environmental impact data may be associated with input material to be provided to a production for producing one or more output material(s).

[0127] The environmental impact data and the one or more validation input(s) may be provided as for example described in the context of Figs. 2-5. For validation of the environmental impact data a validation rule set may be provided. The validation rule set may include one or more validation rule(s) per validation input category. The validation input categories may include a check on the input data provided, the technical scheme according to which the environmental impact data was generated, the technological correlation, the geographical correlation, the temporal correlation, the data completeness, the verification and / or certification mechanism used for the data generation of the environmental impact data, one or more reference(es) for the environmental impact data.

[0128] As illustrated in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, the input data including input material identifier data, environmental impact data and the one or more validation input(s) may be provided for validation. Validation flags may be set based on the provided input data. For example, if the input material identifier data is incomplete the validation may fail. Further for example, if the environmental impact data is empty the validation may fail. Further for example, if no validation input data is provided the validation may fail. Further for example, if incomplete input data is provided the validation may still pass depending on the input data that is missing and if such data is mandatory or optional. The input data validation flag may be set to pass.

[0129] The environmental impact data may be validated based on further validation input categories. The technical scheme according to which the environmental impact data was generated may be checked. Technical schemes may be pre-defined technical schemes with algorithmic rules to generate environmental impact data. The technical schemes may refer to technical standards such as ISO 14067 or ISO 14040 / 44. The technical schemes for validation may be preset. If the technical scheme corresponds to a preset technical scheme, the technical scheme validation flag may be set to pass.

[0130] The technological correlation may relate to production process(es) used to produce the input material and the relation of the input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data to such production process(es). This allows to score to what degree the environmental impact data represents the technological process that is used to produce the input material. The scoring may be defined by the degree to which the environmental impact data represents the technological process that is used to produce the input material. For example, the score may indicate pass if it matches the production technology (mix) used for production of the input material or at least corresponds to the production technology (mix) used for the input material. The score may indicate fail, if it is different to the production technology (mix) used for the input material, if it is based on process simulation or lab scale production or if it is based on the technology (mix) used for the input material but not from the entity providing the environmental impact data or in other words from third parties. The scoring may include different score levels for each option.

[0131] The geographical correlation may relate to the location of production process(es) and / or the production condition(s) used to produce the input material and the relation of the input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data to such production processes). This allows to score to what degree the selected data represents the geography of the processes used to produce the input material. The scoring may be defined by the degree to which the selected data represents the geography of the processes used to produce the input material. For example, the score may indicate pass if the generation data was gathered at the location(s) or region(s) the input material is produced. The score may indicate pass if the generation data was gathered at the location(s) or region(s) with corresponding production conditions to the location(s) or region(s) the input material is produced. The score may indicate fail if the generation data was gathered at the location(s) or region(s) with differing production conditions to the location(s) or region(s) the input material is produced or if the location(s) the generation data was gathered are not known.

[0132] The temporal correlation may relate to the age of the input material production data and / or the time range covered by the input material production data. This allows to score to what degree the selected data represents the actual time. For example, if the data set is no older than 3, 6 or 10 years with respect to the time period covered by the input material production data, the score may indicate a pass. If the data set is older than 10 years with respect to the time period covered by the input material production data or the age is not known, the score may indicate a fail. In addition the time period over which process data were collected to calculate the environmental impact data of the input material may be scored. For example, if the data set covers more than one year, the score may indicate a pass. If the data set covers less than 1 year or 6 months, the score may indicate a fail. The data completeness may allow to score the degree to which the data is statistically representative of the input material production and also addresses seasonal and other normal fluctuations in data. This may be combined with the fraction of the production volume or quantity supplied as input material to the chemical production network and represented by the data that is used to calculate the environmental impact data. For example, 100%, 50%, >=50%, <=50%, 25%, >=25% or <=25% relevant production volume or quantity may be considered. Relevant production volume may refer the total volume or total quantity of supplied input material. In combination with the time range covered by the input material production data, the score may indicate fail or pass. For examples, for less than 60%, 50%, 40%, 30%, 25% or 20% relevant production volume or quantity and any value less than one year of time range, the score may indicate fail. For other cases it may indicate pass.

[0133] The validity input material production data used for the generation of environmental impact data allows to score the validity of the environmental impact data. The input material production data may be validated data based on measurement or calculations, validated data partly based on assumptions, non-validated data based on measurement or calculations, non-validated data partly based on assumptions, estimates or approximation (reliability). Validated data based on measurement or calculations, validated data partly based on assumptions, non-validated data based on measurement or calculations may indicate a pass. Non-validated data partly based on assumptions, estimates or approximation may indicate a fail.

[0134] The verification and / or certification scheme for generation of the environmental impact data may indicate verification and / or certification scheme. The score may indicate the presence of the verification and / or verification scheme. One or more reference(s) for the environmental impact data may further be provided to score the validity of the environmental impact data provided. A deviation of + / - 20% may indicate pass.

[0135] The results of the validation rules per validation input category may be provided to determine an overall validation result either based on individual validation results or on aggregated validation results as described for example in the context of Figs. 5, 6, 7 or 9. For example, for different input materials the scores per validation input category may be provided. The score may correspond to a pass or fail per category. The score may be aggregated to determine a total score. The result of the validation may depend on the aggregated total score or on individual scores.

[0136] Fig. 11 illustrates an example flowchart of a method for monitoring environmental impact of a chemical production and / or of one or more chemical material(s) produced by said chemical production. The chemical material(s) may be produced from one or more input material(s) provided to the chemical production.

[0137] Input material data associated with one or more of the input material(s) may be provided. The input material data may include input material identifier(s), environmental impact data and one or more validation input(s) associated with the generation of the environmental impact data. The environmental impact data may include for example an input environmental property, such as an input emission property like a product carbon footprint, of the input material. The validation input(s) may include one or more production data properties related to input material production data used to generate the input environmental property. The one or more production data properties may relate to characteristics of the input material production data used to generate the input environmental property. Properties associated with input material production data may relate to one or more quality indicators of the input material production data that signify the relevance of the input material production data to the input material provided to the chemical production for producing the one or more output material(s). Properties associated with input material production data may relate to the qualitative indicators of the input material production data to the input material provided to the chemical production producing the one or more output materials). In other words, the properties may signify the quality of the input material production data with respect to the input material provided to the chemical production producing the one or more output material(s).

[0138] For monitoring the environmental impact of chemical production and / or the one or more output material(s) produced based on input material(s) provided to the chemical production, the input environmental property associated with the input material(s) may be provided. The input environmental property may relate to environmental properties generated by the production of the input material. The input environmental property may be generated from process data gathered from production of the input material, energy data related to energy usage for producing the input material and / or an environmental property of materials used to produce the input material.

[0139] In addition or alternatively to the input environmental property, a production data property associated with input material production data used to generate the input environmental property may be provided. The production data properties associated with input material production data may relate to one or more quality indicators of the input material production data that signify the quality of the input material production data to the input material provided to the chemical production producing the one or more output material(s). The quality indicators may relate to validation input categories. The validation input categories may relate to technological, geographical and / or temporal properties of the input material production data used to generate the input environmental property. The validation input categories may relate to at least a technological correlation of input material production data used to generate the input environmental property, a geographical correlation of input material production data used to generate the input environmental property, a temporal correlation of input material production data used to generate the input environmental property, a share of input material quantity covered by the input environmental property, and / or a share, quantity or quantity share of input material the input environmental property is applicable to and / or a share, quantity or quantity share of input material the input environmental property is validated, to be validated or validatable for and / or a share, quantity or quantity share of input material the validation input(s) are related to or any combination or selection thereof. The validation input categories may relate to technological, geographical and / or temporal properties of the input material production data used to generate the input environmental property. The validation input categories may relate to properties of the generation process used to generate the input environmental property.

[0140] The input material production data may be associated with one or more production process(s) for producing the input material. The input material production data may include process data gathered from production of the input material, energy data related to energy usage for producing the input material and / or an environmental property of materials used to produce the input material.

[0141] The environmental impact data may be validated by determining from the production data property at least a technological correlation, geographical correlation and / or a temporal correlation of the input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data to the production of the input material. Based on the validated environmental impact data o the input material may be provided to the chemical production and / or o the validated environmental impact data may be provided for generating environmental impact data associated with the output material(s) produced using the input material. The validation may include the methods for validating the environmental impact data as described for example in the context of Figs. 2-10. The validation may include acceptance of the provided environmental impact data and assignment of a provided environmental impact data as validated environmental impact data to the input material identifier(s). The validation may include rejection of the provided environmental impact data and assignment of pre-defined environmental impact data to the validated environmental impact data. The validation may include rejection of the provided environmental impact data and rejection of the input material. Depending on validation, the output product(s) may be produced using the input material associated with the validated environmental impact data. The output products may be produced by the chemical production as for example illustrated and described in the context of Figs. 1-3.

[0142] The output environmental impact data may be generated at least in part based on the validated environmental impact data associated with the input material(s). The output environmental impact data may be generated as for example illustrated and described in the context of Figs. 2 and 3. The generated output environmental impact data may be assigned to the produced output product. The generated output environmental impact data may be assigned to a digital identifier ID3 associated with the output material and as described for example in the context of Fig. 3.

[0143] Fig. 12 illustrates an example decentral network environment with network nodes configured to provide environmental impact data associated with input material(s), the validation input(s) or the validated environmental impact data in association with providing the input material(s).

[0144] The decentral network environment may include one or more network node(s) associated with the upstream production, the chemical production and / or the validation engine configured to validate environmental impact data, such as an input environmental property associated with input materials. The input materials may be produced by the input material production. The network nodes may be associated with a data consuming service comprising computer-executable instructions for accessing and / or processing data associated with a data owner of the data accessed via the data consuming service. The network nodes may be associated with a data providing service comprising computer-executable instructions for providing and / or processing data associated with a data owner of the provided data for accessing and / or processing by the data consuming service. The data owner associated with the data providing service may in this example may be the input material producer. The data owner may comprise any entity generating data. The data generating node may be coupled to the data owner or the entity owning or producing physical products from or for which data is generated. The data may be generated by a third-party entity on behalf of the entity owning physical products from or for which data is generated.

[0145] The environmental impact data may include for example an input environmental property, such as an input emission property like a product carbon footprint, of the input material. The validation input(s) may include one or more production data properties related to input material production data used to generate the input environmental property. The input material production data may include process data gathered from production of the input material, energy data related to energy usage for producing the input material and / or an environmental property of materials used to produce the input material. The input environmental property may be generated from process data gathered from production of the input material, energy data related to energy usage for producing the input material and / or an environmental property of materials used to produce the input material.

[0146] The input material as produced by the upstream production 102, 104 may be provided in association with a digital asset as described in the context of Figs. 2 and 3. The input material may be associated with a physical identifier connected to the input material. The physical identifier may be related to the digital asset associated with the input material. The digital asset may include the input material identifier. The digital asset may include environmental impact data or parts thereof, such as one or more input environmental properties like the product carbon footprint, recycled content or bio-based content. The digital asset may include a digital representation of the environmental impact data or parts thereof such as one or more input environmental properties like the product carbon footprint, recycled content or bio-based content. The digital representation may include a representation for accessing the digital asset or parts thereof. The representation may point to the database storing the digital asset or parts thereof. The representation may point directly or indirectly to the database. For example, the representation may point to the data providing node associated with the database. This may enhance security since access to the database is controlled via the data providing node associated with the data owner of the digital asset.

[0147] The digital asset may further include or relate to authentication and / or authorization information linked to the input material identifier. The authentication and / or authorization information may be provided for authentication and / or authorization of a data provider and / or data consumer. The input material identifier may include or relate to a decentral identifier, that is uniquely associated with the plastic additive. The decentral identifier may be connected to the digital representation of the environmental impact data. The digital representation may include a representation for accessing the environmental impact data or parts thereof. The decentral identifier may include one or more Universally Unique Identifier(s) (UUID(s)) or Digital Identifier(s) (DID(s)). The decentral identifier may include any unique identifier uniquely associated with a data owner and / or input material. The data owner may be the producer of the input material. Via the decentral identifier and its unique association with the data owner and / or input material access to the environmental impact data may be controlled by the data owner.

[0148] The digital asset including the digital representation of the environmental impact data comprising one or more environmental properties such as the product carbon footprint, recycled content or bio-based content may be stored in a decentral data base. The environmental impact data may be stored in a data base associated with the data owner, such as the producer of the input material.

[0149] The environmental impact data such as the input environmental property may be provided from a decentral network node associated with the production of the input material to one or more decentral network node(s) associated with the production of the output material and / or the validation engine. The environmental impact data may be provided under control of the data owner of the environmental impact data.

[0150] The input material may be physically delivered to a chemical producer using the input material. The input material may be connected to a QR-code having encoded the input material identifier. The chemical producer using the input material may read the QR-code through a QR-code reader. The input material identifier may be provided to a data base associated with the chemical producer using the input material. In other embodiments the chemical producer using the input material may retrieve the input material identifier through a decentral infrastructure data base. The input material identifier may be used to gather the decentral identifier associated with such input material identifier from the decentral infrastructure data base.

[0151] Based on the received input material identifier a request to access the environmental impact data associated with the input material identifier may be triggered by the data consuming service associated with the network node(s) of the chemical production and / or the validation engine configured to validate the environmental impact data. The input material identifier may be provided to the data providing service of the producer of the input material. Alternatively, the decentral identifier may be provided to the data providing service of the producer of the input material. In addition, authentication and / or authorization information may be provided.

[0152] The request may be authenticated and / or authorized to access the environmental impact data associated with the input material identifier and / or the decentral identifier. Based on successful authorization and / or authentication access to the environmental impact data or parts thereof associated with the input material identifier and / or the decentral identifier may be granted.

[0153] The data providing service may use the received input material identifier and / or the decentral identifier to retrieve the environmental impact data or parts thereof associated with the input material from the data base associated with the producer of the input material. The environmental impact data or parts thereof associated with the input material retrieved by the data providing service may be provided to the data consuming service associated with the network node(s) of the chemical production and / or the validation engine configured to validate the environmental impact data. The environmental impact data or parts thereof associated with the input material may be stored in the data base associated with chemical production and / or the validation engine.

[0154] Through the input material identifier and / or decentral identifier, the environmental impact data or parts thereof can be uniquely associated with the input material. Through the decentral network the environmental impact data or parts thereof may be transferred between the producer of the input material and the chemical producer and / or the validation engine. This way the environmental impact data can be shared with unique association to the input material and without central intermediary directly between the value chain players. This allows for transparency of environmental impact data or parts thereof across the value chain and positive environmental impacts of output material of the chemical production network can be tracked through the value chain.

[0155] Based on the received input material identifier, a request to provide validation input(s) may be triggered by the data consuming service associated with the network node(s) of the chemical production and / or the validation engine configured to validate the environmental impact data. The request may be provided to a validation input generator via the data providing node associated with the input material producer. The validation input generator may be configured to generate validation input(s) as described in the context of Fig. 4a and Fig. 4b.

[0156] The environmental impact data, such as the input environmental property, may be validated by determining from the production data property at least a technological correlation, geographical correlation and / or a temporal correlation of the input material production data used to generate the input environmental property to the production of the input material. Based on the validated input environmental property o the input material may be provided to the chemical production network and / or o the validated input environmental property may be provided for generating an output environmental property associated with the output material produced using the input material. The validation may include the methods for validating the environmental impact data as described for example in the context of Figs. 2-10. The validation may include acceptance of the provided input environmental property and assignment of the provided environmental property as validated environmental property to the input material identifier(s). The validation may include rejection of the provided input environmental property and assignment of a pre-defined environmental property to the validated environmental property. The validation may include rejection of the provided input environmental property and rejection of the input material.

[0157] The validation engine may be configured to validate the input environmental property. The validation engine may be part of the network node associated with the chemical producer and / or the validator. In the latter case, the input environmental property may be provided from a decentral network node associated with the production of the input material to validation instructions configured to validate the input environmental property and provided by a decentral network node associated with the validator. The validated input environmental property may be provided from the decentral network node associated with the validator to a decentral network node associated with the production of the chemical product.

[0158] The decentral setup allows for more efficient monitoring of environmental impact of chemical production and / or output material(s) based on the input materials provided to a production for producing the output material(s). In particular, when multiple input material(s) are to be provided to the chemical production network, environmental impact data, such as input environmental property, may be provided per input material. Based on the validated input environmental property per input material, the respective input material may be provided to the chemical production network and / or the output environmental property associated with the output material produced based on one or more of the provided input materials may be generated as described in the context of Fig. 10. The output environmental property associated with the output material may be generated based on the input materials provided to chemical production network, respective quantities per input material and respective validated environmental properties associated with the input materials used to produce the chemical product.

[0159] The present disclosure has been described in conjunction with preferred embodiments and examples as well. However, other variations can be understood and effected by those persons skilled in the art and practicing the claimed invention, from the studies of the drawings, this disclosure and the claims.

[0160] Any steps presented herein can be performed in any order. The methods disclosed herein are not limited to a specific order of these steps. It is also not required that the different steps are performed at a certain place or in a certain computing node of a distributed system, i.e. each of the steps may be performed at different computing nodes using different equipment / data processing. As used herein ..determining" also includes ..initiating or causing to determine", “generating" also includes ..initiating and / or causing to generate" and “providing” also includes “initiating or causing to determine, generate, select, send and / or receive”. “Initiating or causing to perform an action” includes any processing signal that triggers a computing node or device to perform the respective action.

[0161] In the claims as well as in the description the word “comprising” or “including” or similar wording does not exclude other elements or steps and shall not be construed limiting to the elements or steps lined out. 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 the mutual different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used in an advantageous implementation or further elements may be included.

[0162] Providing in the scope of this disclosure may include any interface configured to provide data. This may include an application programming interface, a human-machine interface such as a display and / or a software module interface. Providing may include communication of data or submission of data to the interface, in particular display to a user or use of the data by the receiving entity.

[0163] Any disclosure and embodiments described herein relate to methods, systems, apparatuses, devices, chemicals, materials, services, uses, computer program elements lined out above and vice versa. Advantageously, the benefits provided by any of the embodiments and examples equally apply to all other embodiments and examples and vice versa.

[0164] All terms and definitions used herein are understood broadly and have their general meaning.

Claims

Claims:1 . A method for validating environmental impact data associated with input material to be used for a production of one or more output material(s), wherein the environmental impact data relates to one or more environmental properties of the input material, the method comprising the steps of:• providing at least one identifier associated the input material, environmental impact data associated the input material and one or more validation input(s) associated with the generation of the environmental impact data;• providing a validation rule set including one or more validation rules configured to validate the environmental impact data based on the generation of the environmental impact data associated with the input material;• selecting at least one validation rule from the validation rule set for at least one of the validation inputs and generating at least one validation score by applying the at least one selected validation rule to the at least one provided validation input;• depending on validation score assigning validated environmental impact data to the at least one identifier associated with the input material.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more validation input(s) relate to one or more properties associated with input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data.

3. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the one or more validation input(s) relate to a technological correlation between the production used to generate the environmental impact data and the production used to produce the input material.

4. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the one or more validation input(s) relate to a geographical correlation between the production used to generate the environmental impact data and the production used to produce the input material.

5. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the one or more validation input(s) relate to a temporal correlation of the input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data, wherein the temporal correlation of the input material production data includes the age of the input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data and / or the time range of the input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data.

6. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the one or more validation input(s) relate to a share, quantity or quantity share of input material the validation input(s) are related to.

7. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one validation rule is selected based on an environmental impact data type associated with the provided environmental impact data and / or a validation input category associated with the provided validation input(s).

8. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one validation rule is configured to generate a validation score based one or more properties associated with input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data.

9. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one validation rule is configured to generate a validation score based on a technological correlation, a geographical correlation and / or a temporal correlation of input material production data used to generate the environmental impact data to the input material provided to the production.

10. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the provided environmental impact data is validated if the validation score indicates that the provided environmental impact data is at least partially valid environmental impact data, wherein at least the validated part of the environmental impact data is assigned to the at least one identifier associated with the input material; or wherein the provided environmental impact data is not validated if the validation score indicates that provided environmental impact data is at least partially non-validated, wherein non-validated part of the environmental impact data is replaced by reference environmental impact data, wherein the reference environmental impact data is assigned as validated environmental impact data to the at least one identifier associated with the input material; or wherein the provided environmental impact data is not validated if the validation score indicates that provided environmental impact data is at least partially non-validated, wherein the input material is not provided to the production.

11. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the validation scores per validation input are aggregated and validated environmental impact data is assigned to the at least one identifier associated with the input material based on the aggregated score.

12. The method of any of the preceding claims further comprising the step of providing validated environmental impact data for monitoring the environmental impact of the production producing the of one or more output material(s) from the input material.

13. An apparatus for validating environmental impact data associated an input material to be used for a production of one or more output material(s), wherein the environmental impact data relates to one or more environmental properties of the input material, the apparatus comprising:• a data providing interface configured to provide at least one identifier associated the input material, environmental impact data associated the input material and configured to provide one or more validation input(s) associated with the generation of the environmental impact data;• a rule providing interface configured to provide a validation rule set including one or more validation rules configured to validate the environmental impact data based on the generation of the environmental impact data associated with the input material;• a validation engine configured to select at least one validation rule from the validation rule set for at least one of the validation inputs, configured to generate at least one validation score by applying the at least one validation rule to the at least one provided validation input and depending on validation score configured to assign validated environmental impact data to the at least one identifier associated with the input material.

14. Use of environmental impact data validated according to any of the methods of claims 1 to 12 or by the apparatus of claim 13 for monitoring the environmental impact of a production of one or more output material(s) from one or more input material(s) associated with the validated environmental impact data and / or for generating environmental impact data associated with one or more output material(s) produced based on one or more input materials) associated with the validated environmental impact data.

15. An input material associated with environmental impact data and one or more validation input(s) for validating the environmental impact data according to the methods of any of claims 1 to 12 or by the apparatus of claim 13 or an output material associated withenvironmental impact data, wherein the environmental impact data is generated based on environmental impact data associated with one or more input material(s) used to produce the output material, the environmental impact data associated with the one or more input material(s) being validated according to the methods of any of claims 1 to 12 or by the ap- paratus of claim 13.

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