Reverse tracking biodegradability of materials

Abstract

Disclosed are methods for authorizing access to reverse tracking data related to biodegradability of materials by a material producer, the method comprising the steps of: providing at least one authorization rule associated with the material, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access for the material producer to material data generated in relation to a production, use and / or an end-of-life stage of the product produced using the material, generating tracking data associated with at least one property related to the biodegradability of the material in the production, use and / or an end-of-life stage by applying the at least one authorization rule to the material data, and providing the tracking data to a data providing service of the product producer and / or product user for access by a data consuming service of the material producer.

Description

[0001] Reverse Tracking Biodegradability of Materials

[0002] Technical field

[0003] The invention relates to a method for reverse tracking biodegradability of a material, an apparatus for reverse tracking biodegradability of a material, a method for accessing reverse tracking data associated with biodegradability of a material, an apparatus for accessing tracking data associated with biodegradability of a material, a data providing service of a product producer or user configured to process tracking data, a data consuming service of a material producer configured to process tracking data, use of tracking data associated with biodegradability of a material, and a computer element.

[0004] Technical Background

[0005] Materials are widely used in various applications and end up in multiple supply chains to produce a diversity of products. Polymers are one of the most widely used materials, due to their versatility and durability. Polymers are used in many industries, including packaging, construction, automotive, electronics, and healthcare. Application of polymers has been a growing concern due to the impact of plastics and microplastics on the environment. Hence, biodegradability of polymers has attracted much attention, as it may offer a solution to reducing their environmental impact. Different norms to define biodegradability as a property of a material such as a chemical product already exist. However, the transparency along the value chain and the life cycle of a biodegradable material are lacking.

[0006] Summary

[0007] In one aspect disclosed is a method for reverse tracking a material comprising at least one biodegradable component in relation to a production, use and / or an end-of-life stage of the product produced using the material, the method comprising the steps of: providing at least one authorization rule associated with the material, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access for a material producer to material data generated in relation to the production, use and / or end-of-life stage of the product; generating tracking data associated with at least one property related to the use of the material in the production, use and / or an end-of-life stage by applying the at least one authorization rule to the material data, e.g., which may further comprise product data of a product producer or a product user or an end-of-life product processor; and providing the tracking data to a data providing service of a product producer, and / or a product user, and / or an end-of-life product processor for access by a data consuming service of the material producer, e.g., for direct or indirect access. In another aspect disclosed is a method for authorizing a material producer to access reverse tracking data of a material comprising at least one biodegradable component, the method comprises providing at least one authorization rule associated with the material, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access by the material producer to material data generated in relation to a production, use and / or an end-of-life stage of the product produced using the material, wherein the at least one authorization rule includes: at least one event trigger, and at least one instruction configured to generate tracking data from the material data and configured to provide the tracking data.

[0008] In another aspect disclosed is a method for reverse tracking a material comprising at least one biodegradable component in relation to a production, use and / or an end-of-life stage of the product produced using the material, the method comprising the steps of: providing at least one authorization rule associated with the material, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access for a material producer to material data associated with at least one property related to biodegradability of the material and / or associated with at least one property related to the at least one biodegradable component of the material; generating tracking data associated with at least one property related to the use of the material in the production, use and / or an end-of-life stage by applying the at least one authorization rule to the material data; and providing the tracking data to a data providing service of a product producer, and / or a product user, and / or an end-of-life product processor for access by a data consuming service of the material producer.

[0009] In another aspect disclosed is a method for authorizing a material producer to access reverse tracking data of a material comprising at least one biodegradable component, the method comprises providing at least one authorization rule associated with the material, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access by the material producer to material data generated in relation to a production, use and / or an end-of-life stage of the product produced using the material, wherein the at least one authorization rule includes: at least one event trigger, and at least one instruction configured to generate tracking data associated with at least one property related to the use of the material in the production, use and / or an end-of-life stage from the material data and configured to provide the tracking data.

[0010] In another aspect disclosed is a method for authorizing a material producer to access reverse tracking data of a material comprising at least one biodegradable component, preferably via a decentral network, wherein the method comprises providing at least one authorization rule associated with the material, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access by the material producer to material data associated with at least one property related to biodegradability of the material and / or associated with at least one property related to the at least one biodegradable component of the material, wherein the at least one authorization rule includes: at least one event trigger, and at least one instruction configured to generate tracking data associated with at least one property related to the use of the material in the production, use and / or an end-of-life stage from the material data and configured to provide the tracking data.

[0011] In another aspect disclosed is an apparatus for reverse tracking a material comprising at least one biodegradable component, wherein the apparatus is configured to provide at least one authorization rule associated with the material, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access for a material producer to material data generated in relation to the production, use and / or end-of-life stage of the product produced using the material; generate tracking data associated with at least one property related to the use of the material in the production, use and / or an end-of-life stage by applying the at least one authorization rule to the material data; and provide the tracking data to a data providing service of a product producer, and / or a product user, and / or an end-of-life product processor for access by a data consuming service of the material producer.

[0012] In another aspect is disclosed an apparatus for reverse tracking a material comprising at least one biodegradable component, the apparatus comprising: an authorization provider configured to provide at least one authorization rule associated with the material, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access for the material producer to material data associated with at least one property related to biodegradability of the material and / or associated with at least one property related to the at least one biodegradable component of the material, a tracking data generator configured to generate tracking data, e.g., associated with at least one property related to biodegradability of the material and / or associated with at least one property related to the at least one biodegradable component of the material, by applying the at least one authorization rule to the material data, e.g., which may comprise product data of a product producer and / or product user and / or an end-of-life product processor, and a tracking data provider configured to provide the tracking data to a data providing service of the product producer and / or the product user and / or the end-of-life product processor for access by a data consuming service of the material producer, e.g., direct or indirect access.

[0013] The apparatus comprising: at least one computing nodes; and at least one computer-readable media having thereon computer-executable instructions that are structured such that, when executed by the at least one computing nodes, cause the apparatus to perform the following steps:

[0014] In another aspect disclosed is an apparatus for authorizing access to reverse tracking data, preferably biodegradability data, by a material producer preferably via a decentral network, the of the apparatus being configured to provide at least one authorization rule associated with the material, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access for the material producer to material data associated with at least one property related to the biodegradability of the material, wherein the authorization rule includes at least one event trigger and at least one instruction to generate tracking data from the product data and to provide the tracking data. The at least one instruction is particularly advantageous, as it ensures reverse tracking of properties of the material in use, such as biodegradability properties of the material in use and / or properties related to biodegradability of the material in use and / or at least one property related to the biodegradability of the material, such as the material in use. The biodegradability and / or the properties related to biodegradability of the material is indicative of a biodegradation characteristic of the material, for instance, the material may comprise a polymer, and thus, the biodegradability properties is indicative of the biodegradation characteristics of the polymer. For instance, the biodegradability properties may comprise a physicochemical characteristic of the material which is related to the biodegradability of the material. Furthermore, the at least one property related biodegradability of the material may also comprise data comprising, inter alia but not limited to, biodegradation habitat data such as habit descriptors comprising at least one of: temperature, sand content, pH value, moisture content, nutrient concentration, microbial community and enzyme environment. Such biodegradation habitat data are related to the biodegradation of the material and / or the product produced using the material.

[0015] In another aspect disclosed is an apparatus for authorizing access to reverse tracking, preferably biodegradability data, data by a material producer preferably via a decentral network, the apparatus being configured to provide at least one authorization rule associated with the material, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access for the material producer to product data generated in relation to a production, use and / or an end-of-life stage of the product produced using the material, wherein the at least one authorization rule includes at least one event trigger and at least one instruction configured to generate tracking data associated with at least one property related to the biodegradability of the material from the product data and configured to provide the tracking data.

[0016] In another aspect disclosed is a method for accessing biodegradability reverse tracking data associated with a material including the step of receiving the tracking data provided according to any of the methods disclosed or as provided by any of the apparatuses disclosed herein at a data consuming service of a material producer.

[0017] In another aspect disclosed is an apparatus for accessing reverse tracking data, preferably biodegradability data, associated with a material configured to receive the tracking data provided by any of the apparatuses or any of the methods disclosed herein or as provided by any of the apparatuses disclosed herein at a data consuming service of a material producer.

[0018] In another aspect disclosed is a data providing service of a product producer, a data providing service of a product producer and / or a product user or a data consuming service of a material producer configured to process tracking data as provided according any of the methods disclosed herein or as provided by any of the apparatuses disclosed herein.

[0019] In another aspect disclosed is the use of tracking data associated with a material as provided according any of the methods or apparatuses disclosed herein or as provided by any of the apparatuses disclosed herein for adapting a material, a material property, a material composition, a biodegradability performance of a material and / or for producing materials with an adapted biodegradable property.

[0020] In another aspect disclosed is a material associated with a material passport including at least one authorization rule for reverse tracking biodegradability of the material as provided according any of the methods or apparatuses disclosed herein.

[0021] In another aspect disclosed is a material passport including at least one authorization rule for reverse tracking biodegradability of a material as provided according any of the methods or apparatuses disclosed herein.

[0022] In another aspect disclosed is at least one authorization rule configured to provide access for a material producer to product data associated with at least one property related to the biodegradability of the material preferably via a decentral network, wherein the authorization rule includes at least one event trigger and at least one instruction to generate tracking data from the product data and / or to provide the tracking data.

[0023] In another aspect disclosed is at least one authorization rule configured to provide access for a material producer to product data generated in relation to production or lifecycle cycle of the product, preferably via a decentral network, wherein the authorization rule includes at least one event trigger and at least one instruction to generate tracking data associated with at least one property related to the biodegradability of the material from the product data and / or to provide the tracking data.

[0024] In another aspect the present disclosure relates to a computer element, such as a computer program or computer readable medium, with instructions, which when executed on at least one computing node, e.g., of a decentral network is configured to carry out the steps of the method disclosed herein or is configured to be carried out by the apparatus(es) disclosed herein.

[0025] Any disclosure, embodiments and examples described herein relate to the methods, the systems, apparatuses, materials, material passports, authorization rules, uses 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.

[0026] Embodiments

[0027] To improve application properties of materials, reverse tracking biodegradability of materials in product applications and the resulting products produced based on the material is advantageous. For such tracking a simplified and customized data exchange reverse to the material supply chains may be advantageous. Utilizing decentral data ecosystems, that allow for secure peer-to-peer data exchange, enables simplified and customized data exchange. Such a material exhibiting at least certain degree of biodegradability may be referred to as biodegradable material, which for instance comprise at least one chemical product. In some cases, the at least one chemical product may also be a biodegradable chemical product.

[0028] In particular, by providing at least one authorization rule reverse tracking biodegradability of the material and its application properties in different product supply chains is possible. Such reverse tracking of biodegradability or data feedback may be customized via the authorization rule. This way the data exchange may be tailored to product data that allows to improve application properties of the material for specific applications and enables improvement of materials for specific uses.

[0029] The reverse tracking of product properties produced based on the biodegradable material allows for tracking performance of those produced products in particular in comparison to traditional products based on non- biodegradable material. By providing the real life usage of the material and its performance innovation of biodegradable materials can be accelerated and properties of such materials can be improved in a market driven agile manner.

[0030] The material may be a biodegradable material. The material may be a at least partially biodegradable material.

[0031] In the following, embodiments of the present disclosure will be outlined by ways of examples. It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to said embodiments and / or examples.

[0032] In one embodiment, the at least one authorization rule may include at least one event trigger, and at least one instruction configured to generate tracking data associated with at least one property related to the use of the material in the production, use and / or an end-of-life stage from the material data and configured to provide the tracking data. Additionally or alternatively, the at least one event trigger may be associated with detecting a decentral identifier associated with the material and / or detecting data related to material by at least one of: the product producer, the product user, and the end-of-life product processor.

[0033] In another embodiment, the at least one authorization rule may be related to a decentral identifier associated with the material and / or data related to the material.

[0034] In a further embodiment, the at least one authorization rule may be provided as part of a material passport including a decentral identifier associated with the material and / or data related to the material and / or data related to the at least one biodegradable component of the material; and / or provided by an authorization management system, wherein the authorization management system may be associated with the data providing service of the product producer, and / or the product user, and / or the end-of-life product processor. In another embodiment, the at least one authorization rule may relate to at least one event trigger associated with the use of the decentral identifier associated with the material and / or data related to the material and / or data related to the at least one biodegradable component of the material.

[0035] In one embodiment, the at least one authorization rule may relate to a specification of tracking data based on product data associated with the product produced using the material.

[0036] In one embodiment, the step of providing the tracking data may comprise at least one of: transferring tracking data to the data consuming service of the material producer, and providing tracking data associated with respective products are provided to the data providing service of the respective product producer and / or product user and / or end-of-life product processor.

[0037] In one embodiment, the tracking data associated with respective products may be aggregated and provided to the data providing service of an end-product producer and / or end-product user, and / or an end-of-life processor of endproduct.

[0038] In another embodiment, providing tracking data may include providing a tracking passport including a decentral identifier associated with the product being tracked, data related to the material data being tracked and / or data related to the product data being tracked.

[0039] Additionally or alternatively, the tracking data may include: application type, product production conditions, application data related to the material during the use stage, performance data related to the material during the use stage, status of the material at the end-of-life stage, a habitat type for biodegrading the material, a habitat or treatment condition for biodegrading the material, and / or at least one property related to the biodegradability of the material and / or related to a habitat for biodegrading the material.

[0040] In one embodiment at least one authorization rule may be associated with a decentral identifier and data related to material data. The authorization rule may include instructions configured for reverse data tracking of the material used to produce the product. The authorization rule may include data transaction instructions or data transaction protocols, such as data usage policies, decentral applications, smart data contracts or other data processing instructions associated with data providing and / or data consuming services of the decentral network. Through the authorization rule data access and data usage by data consuming services can be controlled in a secure manner. The material data may also comprise data labelling the material as at least one of: non-biodegradable, partially biodegradable, biodegradable, and / or compostable.

[0041] In another embodiment the at least one authorization rule relates to instruction(s), which based on the at least one event trigger process product data specified by the authorization rule to generate and to provide tracking data. The authorization rule may relate to or include at least one event trigger related to the use of the material for producing the product. The use may include any processing of the decentral identifier associated with the material and / or the data related to the material. For example, concatenating or linking the decentral identifier associated with the product produced based on the material and the decentral identifier associated with the material and / or the data related to the material may be the event trigger specified by the authorization rule. Furthermore, the use of material identifier in relation to the product identifier may also be the event trigger. For instance, generation on product passport for a product produced from a delivered biodegradable material.

[0042] In another embodiment the at least one authorization rule relates to at least one event trigger related to the use of the decentral identifier associated with the material and / or of the data related to the material. The authorization rule may relate to or include instruction based on the at least one event trigger. The event trigger for reverse tracking biodegradability of materials may relate to at least one processing step related to the decentral identifier and / or the data related to the material data. Moreover, the event trigger for reverse tracking biodegradability of materials may relate to the use of material identifier in relation to the product identifier, for example, generation on product passport for a product produced from a delivered biodegradable material.

[0043] The event trigger may trigger or initialize instructions to generate tracking data from product data for providing tracking data.

[0044] In one embodiment, once the event trigger is activated, data may be transferred, including the authorization for material provider to access the data. For instance, through the material identifier or decentral identifier, the material data can be uniquely associated with the material. Through the decentral network the material data may be transferred between the producer of the material and the user of the material. In this way, the material data can be shared with unique association to the material and without central intermediary directly between the product supply chain players. This allows for transparency of material data across the product supply chain.

[0045] In another embodiment, once the event trigger is activated, data may be stored, including the authorization for material provider to access the data.

[0046] In a further embodiment, once the even trigger is activated, data may be transferred and / or the data may be stored including the authorization for material provider to access the data.

[0047] In another embodiment the authorization rule relates to a specification of tracking data based on product data associated with the product produced using or based on the material. The authorization rule may specify tracking data based on product data associated with the product produced using or based on the material. The authorization rule may specify tracking data to be derived from product data associated with the product produced using or based on the material. The authorization rule may relate to or include at least one instruction based on the at least one event trigger. The decentral network may include participant nodes configured to perform data transactions. The participant nodes may be associated with producers or user of physical products, such as material producers, material producers, intermediate product producers, end-product producers or end-product users. The data transactions may be based on a transaction protocol including authentication and / or authorization mechanism(s). Based on the authentication and / or authorization mechanism a peer-to-peer network between participant nodes of the decentral network may be established. The decentral network may also be referred to as decentralized network.

[0048] The at least one authentication mechanism may be associated with or linked to the decentral identifier. The at least one authentication mechanism associated with the decentral identifier may be provided to participant node(s). The at least one authentication mechanism associated with the decentral identifier may be accessible by the data providing service and / or the data consuming service. The decentral configuration allows for more efficient use of computing resources and strengthens control by each data owner of the decentral network.

[0049] The at least one authorization mechanism may include at least one authorization rule for reverse data tracking of materials used to produce products. The participant nodes of the decentral network may be configured to provide data consuming service and / or data providing service(s). A data providing service may be configured to provide or send data to another participant node of the decentral network. A data consuming service may be configured to ingest or receive data from another participant node of the decentral network. Providing data to a data providing service for access by a data consuming service may include indirect or direct access of the data consuming service to the data.

[0050] The material may be produced by a material producer. Additionally or alternatively, the material producer may also be a material producer. The material may be the physical entity of the produced material. The material data may be collected before, during or after production of the material. The material data may be generated by the material producer. The material data may be associated with the produced material or properties of the produced material. The material data may be provided to the decentral network by the participant node associated with the material producer. The material data may be provided to the decentral network by the data providing service of the material producer. Moreover, the material data may comprise data related to the biodegradability of the material.

[0051] The material may be used to produce the product. The product produced using the material may be an intermediate product or an end-product. The product may be produced through a production including at least one intermediate production step. The product may be used through the lifecycle of the product. The material, the intermediate product and / or the end-product may be related to at least one decentral identifier signifying the digital twin of the physical entity of such product entities. The decentral identifier may be a digital identifier of or for the decentral network. The decentral identifier may be a digital identifier provided to the decentral network and participant nodes of the decentral network. The decentral identifier may hence signify physical entities of products in the decentral network and participant nodes may be able to interpret the relation of the decentral identifier to the physical entities of products. The product, such as the intermediate or end-product, may be associated with product data. The product data may be associated with the product, the use of the material, the application of the material or the material's use to produce the product. The product data may relate or include properties of the material in association with its use to produce the product. The product data may relate or include properties of the product in association with the use of the material to produce the product. The product data may relate to a product type the material is used for or in, product identifier such as decentral identifier associated with the product, performance data associated with the material contained in the product, the material's use to produce the product or combinations thereof. The product data may include application data associated with application properties of the material contained in the product, application properties of the product produced with or from the chemical material or combinations thereof. The product data may be generated or collected before, during or after production of the product. The product data may be generated collected before, during or after the lifecycle of the product. The product data may be generated by the product producer or product user. The product may be any intermediate or end-product produced by any intermediate or end-product producer or product user, respectively. The product data may be associated with the produced product or properties of the produced product. The product data may be associated with the produced intermediate or end-product or properties of the produced intermediate or end-product. The product data may be intermediate or end-product data as generated by the intermediate or end-product producer or user, respectively. The end-product data may be generated by the product user. The product data may be provided to the decentral network by the participant node associated with the product producer or product user, such as the intermediate or end-product producer or user. The product data may be provided to the decentral network by the data providing service of the product producer or product user. The product data may be associated with properties of the material used to produce the product or at least one property related to the biodegradability of the material. The at least one data related to the biodegradability of the material may comprise at least one biodegradability property in delivery of the material. In one embodiment, the method may comprise providing the at least one biodegradability property in delivery of the material. The at least one data related to the biodegradability of the material may comprise at least one biodegradability property of delivered material(s). In one embodiment, the method may comprise providing the at least one biodegradability property of delivered material(s).

[0052] In an embodiment, the at least one authorization rule is related to a decentral identifier associated with the material and / or data related to the material data. The at least one authorization rule may be provided in connection with the decentral identifier associated with the material and / or the data related to material data. The data related to the material data may include or be connected to at least one digital representation pointing to material data or parts thereof. The data related to the material data may include or be connected to the material data or parts thereof.

[0053] The decentral identifier may be uniquely associated with the material or the physical entity of the material, e.g., as packaged for transportation to the consumer of the material. The data related to material data may include at least one digital representation pointing to material data or part thereof. The digital representation may comprise at least one interface to a data providing service. The digital representation may include at least one interface to a data consuming service. It may include an endpoint for data exchange or sharing (resource endpoint) or an endpoint for service interaction (service endpoint), that is uniquely identified via the data transaction protocol. The digital representation pointing to material data or parts thereof may be uniquely associated with the decentral identifier. The decentral identifier may be connected to the digital representation of the material data.

[0054] In another embodiment, the at least one authorization rule is provided as part of a material passport including the decentral identifier associated with the material and / or data related to the material. The material passport may comprise or be connected to the digital representation of the material data. The digital representation may include a representation for accessing the material data or part thereof. The digital representation may include a representation of the material data, such as a hash. The material passport may include the decentral identifier. The material passport may include or be connected to the authentication information and / or the authorization rule. The material passport may include or be connected to data related to the material data.

[0055] In another embodiment the at least one authorization rule is provided by an authorization management system, wherein the authorization management system is associated with the data providing service of the product producer or product user. The authorization management system may provide the at least one authorization rule to the data providing service of the product producer or product user for generating the tracking data. The product data may be provided to the data providing service of the product producer or user and the authorization management system provides the at least one authorization rule. The authorization management system may be a central or decentral registry managing authorization mechanisms or rules of the decentral network. The authorization management system may be a decentral tracking application managing authorization mechanisms or rules for reverse tracking such as reverse tracking biodegradability of materials. The product data may be provided to the data providing service of the product producer or user for access by the decentral tracking application, wherein the decentral tracking application provides the at least one authorization rule.

[0056] In another embodiment, providing the tracking data includes transfer of tracking data to the data consuming service of the material producer. In another embodiment the tracking data associated with respective products is provided to the data providing service of the respective product producer or product user. In another embodiment the tracking data associated with respective products is aggregated and provided to the data providing service of the end-product producer or user. In another embodiment the tracking data is provided to the data providing service of the endproduct producer or user for access by the data consuming service. In another embodiment the tracking data of an intermediate product producer is processed and provided by the end-product producer or user. The tracking data may be associated with the product, the use of the material and the material's use to produce the product. The tracking data may relate or include properties of the material in association with its use to produce the product. The tracking data may relate or include properties of the product in association with the use of the material to produce the product. The tracking data may relate to the product type the material is used for or in, product identifiers such as decentral identifiers associated with the product, performance data associated with the material and the material's use to produce the product application data associated with application properties of the material and the product produced with or from the chemical material or combinations thereof. In another embodiment providing tracking data includes providing a tracking passport including a decentral identifier associated with the tracked product, decentral identifier associated with the tracked material, data related to the tracked material data and / or data related to the tracked product data.

[0057] In one embodiment, application is provided for delivered biodegradable material, such as application, performance of products including chemical products, laboratory measurements, biodegradability of products including chemical products.

[0058] In one embodiment, the at least one instruction is attached to material identifier of digital twin. Put differently, the material passport includes relation to instructions which are triggered when material identifier is associated with product identifier with the product being made of the material.

[0059] Embodiments of the present invention are also advantageous, as these enable reverse data ingest for further applications such as modelling.

[0060] The material and / or the product made of the material may be in an end-of-life stage. In one embodiment, reserve tracking of biodegradability of the material may comprise an end-of-life trigger, which may be the delivery of product made from biodegradable material to a degradation facility. For instance, in the case of mulch foil on field, scanning of QR code on foil prior to soil entry, or by scanning a QR code arranged on a product made of the biodegradable material prior to the product entering the degradation facility, or by discerning biodegradable plastics from non- biodegradable plastics in a sorting facility.

[0061] Moreover, the approach of the present invention is particularly advantageous, as it allows enhancing biodegradability properties of materials by providing biodegradability properties in delivery of materials and instructions that ensure reverse tracking of the properties of such materials in use.

[0062] Reverse tracking biodegradability of materials and / or material comprising at least one biodegradable component and / or products made from the material is also advantageous as it allows to monitor and assess the performance of these products, especially when compared to traditional products made from non-biodegradable materials. Furthermore, reverser tracking enables a comprehensive understanding of how these biodegradable materials function in real-life usage scenarios, leading to accelerated innovation and improvement of their properties. Moreover, Reverse tracking biodegradability of materials and / or material comprising at least one biodegradable component and / or products made from the material permits capturing data on various aspects of the product's performance throughout its life cycle. This includes factors such as durability, decomposition rate, environmental impact, and user feedback. Accessing and analyzing such data provide valuable insights regarding the strengths and weaknesses of biodegradable materials in comparison to their non-biodegradable counterparts. The information obtained through reverse tracking allows the material producer to drive improvements in the design and formulation of biodegradable materials, and it enables a market-driven and agile approach to innovation, as the reverse tracking allows iterating and enhancing the properties of these materials.

[0063] Brief description of the drawings

[0064] In the following, the present disclosure is further described with reference to the enclosed figures.

[0065] Fig. 1 illustrates an example embodiment of a circular material loop including material participants connected through a decentral network with decentral network nodes associated with material participants.

[0066] Fig. 2 schematically illustrates reserve tracking biodegradability of materials during the whole life cycle of a material and / or a product produced using the material.

[0067] Fig. 3 illustrates schematically an example of a method or apparatus for providing material data and tracking data via a decentral network.

[0068] Fig. 4 illustrates schematically a flowchart of a method for reverse tracking biodegradability of the material based on at least one authorization rule.

[0069] Fig. 5 illustrates schematically an example of a method or apparatus for providing the at least one authorization rule.

[0070] Fig. 6 illustrates schematically another example of a method or apparatus for providing the at least one authorization rule.

[0071] Fig. 7 illustrates schematically an example of enforcing the at least one authorization rule.

[0072] Fig. 8 illustrates schematically the product passport including the material passport.

[0073] Figs. 9a, b illustrate schematically an example for reverse tracking biodegradability of the material through a production or supply chain.

[0074] Detailed description

[0075] The following embodiments are mere examples for implementing the method, the apparatus, the system or applications disclosed herein and shall not be considered limiting.

[0076] Fig. 1 illustrates an example embodiment of a circular material loop 100 including material participants 101.1-101.6 connected through a decentral network 102 with decentral network nodes 103.1-103.6 associated with material participants 101.1-101.6.

[0077] The participant network shown in Fig. 1 may be a material chain network. The material chain network may include one or more linear material chain(s), such as production chain(s) and / or recycling chain(s). The linear material chain(s) may include one or more material production chain(s), in which the material is produced by a material producer 101.1 and used to produce an end-product by a product producer 101.3, for instance, an original equipment manufacturer (OEM). The linear material chain(s) may include a material recycling chain, in which the produced end- product is collected, sorted and recycled up to an end-of-life product processor 101.6 and the recyclate is used to produce new material by the material producer 101.1. The material chain may include one or more production and / or recycling chain(s). The material chain may include one or more connected production and / or recycling chain(s). One or more linear material chain(s) may be connected to the material loop 100.

[0078] The material chain network may include a material loop network 100 including the use of recycled material(s) to produce new materials. One or more material loop(s) 100 may allow to use materials resulting from recycling of end- of-life products to produce new products, such as chemical products or materials, associated with one or more material chain(s). The material chain network, preferably the material loop 100, may include the production, use and / or recycling of physical materials or products produced by using such materials or containing such materials. The product may be a material, a chemical product, an intermediate chemical product, a discrete component containing material, a discrete component assembly, an end-product, an end-of-life product, a product to be recycled, a recycled product or a recyclate.

[0079] Material or chemical product may refer to a chemical compound, a chemical ingredient, a chemical molecule, a chemical composition, a chemical mixture, a chemical formulation, an intermediate chemical product, or a chemical base material that may be used to produce discrete products. Chemical material or product flows may include nondiscrete material flows that may be further processed to produce discrete products or components. Chemical material or product flows may include liquids, pellets, beats, powders or the like. The discrete product may include the discrete component, the discrete component assembly, the end-product, the end-of-life product, the product to be recycled, or the recycled product.

[0080] The chemical material or product may be produced using raw materials and / or recyclate. The recyclate may refer to a mechanically or chemically recycled material. Recyclate or recycled material flows may include non-discrete material flows that may be further processed to produce new materials or chemical products. Recyclate or recycled material flows may include liquids, pellets, beats, powders or the like. The raw materials may include or refer to starting materials used to produce the material or chemical product, such as virgin raw material(s). Virgin raw material may be unused raw material that has not been subjected to any processing other than for its production.

[0081] End-product may refer to a product that is the result of a material chain. End-product may refer to a product that is used by the end-product user. End-of-life (EOL) product may refer to a product that has been used by end-product user. End-of-life product may refer to a product that does no longer fulfill the requirements for its use. End-of-life product may refer to a product that is no longer required. End-of-life products may be products disposed in waste, such as plastic waste. A recycled product may refer to any product or material that has been produced using end-of- life product(s). A recycled product may refer to a new product or mate-rial that has been produced using end-of-life product(s). The material loop 100 illustrated in Fig. 1 may include multiple participants 101.1-101.6 forming the material loop 100. The material loop 100 may include all stages of the material from production of the material via use of the material to re-use of the material. The material may hence flow in a closed loop from production of constituents, the end-product via use to re-use. Re-use may include re-purposing of the end-of-life product, re-furbishing of the end-of- life product and / or recycling of the end-of-life product to refeed recyclate into mate-rial production.

[0082] The participant(s) 101.1-101.6 of the material loop may be associated with the production of any material or product and / or recycling of any material or product. The participant(s) of the material loop 100 may include a material producer 103.1 such as a chemical product producer 103.1, the chemical product user 103.2, the original equipment manufacturer, OEM 103.3, the end-product user 103.4, the EOL product collector and / or sorter 103.5, the recycling system operator 103.6 or combinations thereof. The partici pant(s) may include various participant(s) of the material chain or loop not shown in Fig. 1 .

[0083] The partici pant(s) 101.1-101.6 of the material loop 100 may be connected through material flow(s) 104. The material flow 114 may correspond to the flow of product or material from one participant 101.1-101.6 of the material loop to the downstream participant 101.1-101.6 of the material loop 100. The material flow 114 may refer to a continuous or a discontinuous flow of product or material. The flow of product or material may include any means of transportation suitable to transport the product from one participant 101.1-101.6 to another down-stream participant 101.1-101.6. The means of transportation may include pipes, containers, barrels, packages or the like. The material flow 114 may be a one-sided flow, such as a directional material flow 114. The material flow 114 may flow from the up-stream participant 101.1-101.6 to the downstream participant 101.1-101.6 of the material loop 100, such as the material flow 114 from the end-of-life product processor 101.6 to the chemical product producer 101.1. The material flow may include reverse material flow 114 from the downstream participant 101.1-101.6 to the upstream participant 101.1— 101.6 of the material loop 100. For example, material flow 114 may flow from the chemical product producer 101.1 to the recycling system 101.6, e.g., when the recycled product or recyclate does not adhere to quality specifications and needs further treatment.

[0084] The material flow 106 may be associated with raw materials used to produce the material or chemical product, such as virgin raw material(s). Virgin raw material may be unused raw material that has not been subjected to any processing other than for its production. Instead of virgin raw material(s) the material flow 114 may include recycled material(s). Recycled material(s) may be made from waste material that can be recycled. The raw and recycled materials may be provided to the chemical product producer for producing material(s), chemical product(s) and / or intermediate chemical product(s) (not shown).

[0085] The material loop 100 illustrated in Fig. 1 is based on the example of plastic materials and their circular loop. Plastic materials may include a synthetic material made from a wide range of organic polymers such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, poly-ethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl carbon, polyamide, polyurethane or the like. The material participants may include the monomer and / or polymer producer 101.1, the monomer and / or a material user 101.2 such as a polymer user 101.2 such as the compounder, molder or converter, the product producer 101.3 such as the polymer-containing product producer, the product user 101.4 such as the retailer or the consumer, the material waste collector and / or sorter 101.5, the recycling system operator 101.6.

[0086] The monomers and / or polymers may be produced by the chemical producer 101.1. The monomers and / or polymers may be provided to a polymer user 101.2, such as a compounder, moulder and / or converter. The monomers and / or polymers may be compounded, moulded and / or converted. The compounded, moulded and / or converted polymer may be provided to a polymer-containing product producer 101.3 (Original Equipment Manufacturer - OEM). The polymer-containing product or plastic article may be produced using the compounded, moulded and / or converted polymer. The polymer-containing product or plastic article may be provided to a product user 101.4, for instance, a polymer-containing product or plastic article user. The polymer-containing product or plastic article may be used by the user. At the end-of-life the polymer-containing product or plastic article may be disposed by the user. The disposed polymer-containing product or plastic article may be provided to the plastic waste collector and / or sorter

[0087] 101.5. The plastic waste stream 108 may be provided to a collector 101.5 for collecting polymer-containing products or plastic articles to be recycled. The disposed polymer containing product or plastic article may be collected in a plastic waste stream 108. The plastic waste stream 108 may be provided to a sorter 101 .5 for sorting fractions of polymer-containing products or plastic articles to be recycled. The plastic waste stream 108 may be sorted. The sorted fractions of polymer-containing products or plastic articles may be provided to a recycling system 101.6 for recycling the polymer-containing product or plastic article fraction. The recycled fraction may be provided to the chemical producer for producing new monomers and / or polymers thus closing the material loop 100. The material flow 114 may close the loop between the material participants. The material loop may include multiple production chains 110 including material supplier (not shown), chemical producer 101.1, chemical user 101.2 and end-product producer 101.3. The material loop may include multiple recycling chains 112 including end-product collector 101.5 and / or sorter, recycling operator 101.6 and chemical producer 101.1.

[0088] In addition to the connection through material flows 104, the material participants 101.1-101.6 of the circular material loop 100 may be connected through data flows 105 via the decentral network 102. The decentral network 102 may include one or more decentral network nodes 103.1-103.6 associated with material participants 101.1-101.6 of the material loop 100. In a decentralized or decentral network 102, the decentral network nodes 103.1-103.6, in contrast to a centralized network, do not exclusively rely on a central network node. In other words, no single entity is the sole authority of the network. The decentral network 102 may include decentral and central network nodes. The decentral network 102 may include central network nodes that may control and / or monitor the decentral network nodes 103.1-

[0089] 103.6. For example, central network node(s) may provide authentication information, which allow at least two decentral network nodes 103.1-103.6 to establish a peer-to-peer communication channel between respective decentral network nodes 103.1-103.6.

[0090] The network nodes 103.1-103.6 may be computing nodes. The computing node may be any device or system that includes at least one physical and tangible processor, and a physical and tangible memory capable of having thereon computer-executable instructions that are executed by a processor. Computing nodes are now increasingly taking a wide variety of forms. Computing nodes may, for example, be handheld devices, monitoring systems, control systems, laptop computers, desktop computers, mainframes and / or data centers. The memory may take any form and depends on the nature and form of the computing node. The de-central network nodes 103.1-103.6 may be connected via a wired and / or wireless connection such as one of Ethernet, USB, LAN, WLAN and the like. Wireless communication may use, for example, WLAN, Wi-Fi, cellular, and / or Bluetooth. The decentral network nodes 103.1- 103.6 may be configured to perform peer-to-peer data transactions, illustrated by the arrows 105 indicating data flow.

[0091] The decentral network nodes 103.1-103.6 may be configured as data consuming and / or providing network nodes. The decentral network nodes 103.1-103.6 may be configured to provide data to other network node(s) of the decentral network 102 and / or to consume data from other nodes of the decentral network 102. For in-stance, the decentral network node 103.1,3 associated with the monomer and / or polymer producer 101.1 or the polymer containing product or plastic article producer 101 .3 may be configured to provide data related to the production of the respective component to downstream participants such as the plastic waste collector or sorter 101 .5 or the end-of-life product processor 101.6. Further for instance, the decentral network node 103.5,6 associated with the plastic waste collector or sorter 101 .5 or the end-of-life product processor 101 .6 may be configured to access data from the network node 103.1-5 associated with upstream participants such as the monomer and / or polymer producer 101.1 or the polymer containing product producer 101.3.

[0092] The decentral network node(s) 103.1-103.6 may comprise computer-executable instructions configured to pro-vide, consume and / or process data, such as data related to production of associated monomer, polymer, polymer- containing product or plastic article produced or processed within the circular loop 100. The net-work node(s) may run a data providing service configured to provide data to another decentral network node 103.1-103.6 of the decentral network 102. The decentral network node(s) 103.1-103.6 configured to provide data may be associated with a data owner or a data generating node associated with a material or product produced or processed within the circular loop 100. The decentral network node(s) 103.1-103.6 may be connected to one or more dedicated data storage(s) storing the data associated with material or product produced or processed in the circular loop 100 (see for example Fig. 9). The dedicated data storage(s) may be under control of the data owner or data generating node associated with the material or product produced or processed in the circular loop 100. The data owner may be the respective participant 101.1-101.6 of the circular loop 100, the data generating node 103.1-103.6 is associated with. The data generating node 103.1-103.6 may have access to the dedicated data storage(s). Access to data associated with material or product produced or processed within the circular loop 100 may hence be under control of the data owner the respective decentral network node 103.1-103.6 is associated with. This allows to retain full control over data associated with material or product produced or processed within the circular loop 100 by the data owner. At the same time this enables sharing of data associated with material or product produced or processed within the circular loop 100 under controlled conditions, for ex-ample by using appropriate protocols including authorization and authentication mechanisms or schemes to establish peer-to-peer communication. The decentral network node 103.1-103.6 configured to consume data may comprise computer-executable instructions for accessing and / or processing data within the decentral network 102, such as data associated with material produced or processed within the circular loop 100 and provided by a decentral data providing network node

[0093] 103.1-103.6. The decentral data consuming network node 103.1-103.6 may be controlled or owned by or associated with any upstream or downstream participant of the circular loop 100. For instance, the de-central data consuming network node 103.4 may be associated with polymer-containing product or plastic article user 103.4 to allow access to monomer and / or polymer data associated with the supplied monomer and / or polymer of the monomer through the decentral data providing network node 103.1 associated with the monomer and / or polymer producer 101.1.

[0094] The decentral network 102 may include further decentral network nodes 103.1-103.6. The further decentral net-work nodes 103.1-103.6 may not be associated with further participants of the circular loop 100. The further nodes may be decentral infrastructure service nodes (not shown in Fig. 1). The decentral infrastructure service nodes may provide services for decentral participant nodes 103.1-103.6, such as verifying the identity of the decentral network participant nodes 103.1-103.6 prior to performing a data ex-change. The decentral net-work participant node(s)

[0095] 103.1-103.6 may be associated with or include certificate(s), such as X.509 certificate(s). The certificate(s) may be associated with an identity manager including e.g., a certificate issuing service and / or a dynamic provisioning service providing dynamic attribute tokens (e.g., OAuth Access To-kens). This way the decentral network node(s) 103.1-

[0096] 103.6 may be associated or connected to a unique identifier embedded in a X.509 certificate that identifies the respective decentral network node(s) 103.1-103.6. The information required to verify the certificate may be provided via an authentication registry associated with the certificate issuing service and / or a dynamic provisioning service. For instance, in the IDSA Reference Architecture Model, Version 3.0 of April 2019, a decentral data providing network node associated with the data owner, a Certification Authority (CA), a Dynamic Attribute Provisioning Service (DAPS) and a decentral data consuming network node associated with the data consumer are used to verify the identity prior to performing a data exchange (not shown).

[0097] The material or product produced by participant(s) 101.1-101.6 of the circular loop 100 may be associated with material or product data associated with properties of the material or product produced by participant(s) 101.1-101.6 of the circular loop 100. The material or product data may be provided for access by the decentral data providing network node 103.1-103.6 associated with the material or product producer. Access to the mate-rial or product data may be controlled by the decentral data providing network node 103.1-103.6. The material or product data may be accessed by decentral data consuming network node(s) 103.1-103.6 associated with further participants 101.1—

[0098] 101.6 of the material loop 100, such as any upstream or downstream participant 101.1-101.6.

[0099] The data flow 105 between decentral network nodes 103.1-103.6 may be directly or indirectly associated with the material flow 114, 106 between the participants 101.1-101.6 of the mate-rial loop 100. For instance, the data flow 105 may be directly associated with the material flow 114, 105, if data associated with a chemical product provided from the chemical product producer 103.1 to the chemical product user 103.2 is accessed by a decentral data consuming network node 103.1-103.6 associated with said chemical product user 101.2. For instance, the data flow 105 may be indirectly associated with the material flow 114, 106, if data associated with a chemical product produced by chemical product producer 103.1 is accessed by a decentral data consuming network node 103.1-103.6 associated with the end-of-life product processor 101.6.

[0100] Data transactions between decentral network nodes 103.1-103.6 may be based on a decentral identifier associated with the material or product data to be accessed. The decentral identifier may be associated with the physical entity of the material or product. The de-central identifier may be uniquely associated with the physical entity of the material or product. The decentral identifier may uniquely identify the material or product within the decentral network 102. The decentral identifier may be associated with further decentral identifier(s), such as decentral identifier(s) of material(s) or product(s) used to produce the end-product. This may allow to track the material(s) or product(s) used to produce a product, such as an end-product.

[0101] Fig. 2 schematically depicts reserve tracking biodegradability of materials during the whole life cycle of a material and / or a product produced using the material. The material is produced by a material producer 1004. The material may comprise at least one biodegradable component such as at least one biodegradable chemical product, and thus, the material may also be referred to as biodegradable material 1006 or simply as material 1006. In simple terms, the material 1006 may be delivered to a product producer 1008, which utilizes the material 1006 to produce a product 1010, which may also be referred to as biodegradable product 1010. The product 1010 may be an intermediate product or an end-product. The product 1010 may be received by a product user 1012, wherein the product 1010 once used may further be transferred to at least one of a sewage 1014, a recycler 1018 and / or a composting plan 1016. In one embodiment, the material 1006 and / or the product comprising at least partially the material 1006 may after being delivered to a recycler 1018 further be returned to the material producer 1004. In each stage, the material producer may be provided with material related data, such for instance, material data generated by the product producer 1008 during production of the product 1010, by the product user 1012 during the use of the product produced using the material 1006, and / or for instance, by the recycler 1012 when processing the product at the end- of-life stage. Similarly, the material producer 1006 may also be provided and / or be able to retrieve material-related data and / or data related to the product produced using the material in other stages of the life cycle, at the end-of-life stage at a composting plan 1016 and / or release to sewage 1014.

[0102] For instance, a product 1010 such as a plastic mulch, for example, may be produced using a biodegradable material 1006 such as chemical product comprising polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT), polylactic acid (PLA) and / or poly(butylene sebacate-co-terephthalate) (PBST or PBSeT) and / or blend of these products. Additionally, the material 1006 may also comprise starch. The biodegradable material 1006 is provided by the material producer 1004 to the product producer 1008. The producer produce produces the much foil (biodegradable product 1010). For this purpose, the material producer may get mulch data for mulch foil including technical data such as resulting mechanical properties with layer thickness, process conditions on conventional machines used for extrusions of conventional polyethylene and use of lubricants or anti block agents. In some instances, the product 1010 may also comprise other ingredients which cannot be tracked by the material producer 1004, however, product data provided to the material producer 1004 may at least comprise composition data and / or material performance data which may be provided to the material producer 1006. This is particularly advantageous, as typically a change in the amount of the material 1006 used to produce the product 1010 may also affect the performance of the material 1006 such as an overall material performance decrease may be observed. Furthermore, the material producer 1004 may further be provided with additional data such as production process conditions data, for example, production temperature, equipment such as extruder and / or blower including their operation parameter such as blowing speed for a blower, property of the final product such tensile strength, durability, thickness. These data may of particular importance for the material producer 1004, for instance, for simulation of similar conditions by the material producer 1004 to check the performance of the material 1006, which may be particular advantageous, for example, for taking actions when the performance of the material 1006 in production at the site of the product producer 1008 deviates from the simulated performance obtained by the material producer 1004. Furthermore, the material producer 1004 may also use such a data for adapting formulation of the blend used to produce the material 1006. The mulch foil (product 1010) produced using the material 1006 may be delivered to a product user 1012, e.g., a farmer. The farmer uses the much foil on field and provides performance data such as time dependent development of biodegradable stages, final biodegradability stage, field habitat conditions such as soil conditions, crop and / or crop yield, pesticides and / or water usage. Moreover, data provided by the farmer may also comprise location of the field including geographical and climate data, analytics of the solids, images of the soils including topography data, pesticides and watering schemes including water capacity of the soil.

[0103] The data provided by the product producer and / or the product user allows adjusting and improving the properties of the biodegradable material 1006, in particular, it allows the material producer 1004 to adapt the formulation of an existing blend comprising the material 1006 and / or to develop a new biodegradable. Furthermore, this approach facilitates development and implementation of low-impact technologies.

[0104] Data provided by the user 1012 may also comprise data from the product producer 1008. The material producer 1004 may make use of the data, for instance, for prediction and pattern recognitions such as for analyzing kinetics of the material 1006 on the fields and the corresponding simulated kinetics or kinetics in lab. This is particularly advantageous, as the material 1006 can make use of the data for adaption the blend composition of the material 1006.

[0105] The material producer 1004 may also use the data provided by the product producer 1008 and / or the product user 1012 and / or the end-of-life product processor 1018 to, in addition to analyzing performance of the material 1006 and their biodegradability kinetics, for instance, investigate the effect of structures generated during the production of the material 1006 on degradation properties and / or characteristics. Moreover, reverse tracking of material data is particular beneficial, as it provides accurate information on the material 1006 in the different stages of the life cycle of the material 1006 and / or a product produced using the material 1006. In a further example, the product 1010 may be a packaging product, for instance, a biodegradable packing for food industry. The biodegradable material 1006 provided by the material producer 1004 to product producer 1008 may comprise properties such as tensile strength, water vapor transmission rate, oxygen transmission rate, elongation at break, and melting temperature. Moreover, the packaging (product 1010) produced using the material 1006 may comprise additional other components added by the product producer 1012 during production such as biodegradable adhesives such as a polyurethane dispersion (PUD) or coating comprising a blend of polymers. The product producer 1008 produces the packaging (product 1010), for instance, a packaging foil from the biodegradable material 1006. For this purpose, the product producer 1006 gets packaging data for packaging foil including technical data such as resulting water vapor transmission rate, permeability, tensile strength, oxygen, transmission rate, elongation at break, water vapor temperature, extra material added during production of the packaging, and / or production conditions. It should be understood that the packaging may comprise, for instance, a multicomponent composition such as paper, coating and adhesives, which is compostable. The packaging is then used by a product user 1012 such as a supermarket or a consumer, which uses and disposes packaging with feedback regarding food freshness, strength of foil, and / or whether the packaging is used for composting. Moreover, an end-of-life processor 1018 may conduct waste treatment or recycling of packaging and provide performance data such as time dependent development of biodegradability stages, final biodegradability stage, habitat conditions, quality of recyclate, solubility such as total insoluble components, re-melting, removal, extraction and / or segregation of the different components of the packaging, in particular the material 1006.

[0106] The material 1006 and / or the product 1010 made of the material may be in an end-of-life stage. In one embodiment, reserve tracking of biodegradability of the material may comprise an end-of-life trigger, which may be the delivery of product made from biodegradable material to a degradation facility such as a recycler 1018.

[0107] The product producer 1008 and / or the product user 1012 and / or an end-of-life product processor such as the recycler 1018 generate(s) material data in relation to the production, use and / or end-of-life stage of the product 1010 produced using the material 1006. The material producer 1004 is granted access to said material data, for instance, via at least one authorization rule, which is associated with the material. Furthermore, tracking data associated with at least one property related to the use of the material 1006 is generated in relation to the production by the product producer 1008, the use by the product user 1012, and / or the end-of-life product processor such as the recycler 1018 is generated. The generated tracking data is then provided to the material producer 1004, for instance, the tracking data may be provided to a data providing service of the product producer 1008, and / or the product user 1012 and / or the end-of-life product processor such as the recycler 1018 for access by a data consuming service of the material producer 1004. This approach allows reverse tracking the material 1006 in relation to a production of the product 1010 by the product producer 1008, the use by the product user 1012 and / or the end-of-life product processor such as the recycler 1018.

[0108] Moreover, in the above-mentioned examples, the triggering event may for instance be triggered scanning of QR code of the product 1010 or by scanning a QR code arranged on a product made of the biodegradable material 1006 prior to the product entering the degradation facility 1018, or by discerning biodegradable plastics from non-biodegradable plastics in a sorting facility 1018.

[0109] Moreover, reverse tracking data of the material 1006 is particularly advantageous, as it allows enhancing biodegradability properties of materials 1006 by providing biodegradability properties in delivery of materials and instructions that ensure reverse tracking of the properties of such materials in use.

[0110] The material data provided in each stage as depicted in Fig. 2 may be carried out according to the method described in Fig. 3.

[0111] Fig. 3 illustrates schematically an example of a method or apparatus for providing material data and tracking data via a decentral network.

[0112] A material 104 as produced by a material production network may be provided in association with a material passport. The material passport may relate to a material identifier. The material identifier may include at least one decentral identifier. The term decentral may also be referred to as decentralized, such as a decentral identifier may also be referred to as decentralized identifier. The decentral identifier may be an identifier in the decentral network allowing for data exchange via the decentral network. Data exchange may include discovery of the decentral identifier for participants of the decentral network, authentication of participants of the decentral network and / or authorization of data transfers via a peer-to-peer communication between participants of the decentral network. It should be understood that the material 104 depicted in Fig. 3 may also be and / or comprise the material 1006 depicted in Fig. 2.

[0113] The material passport may include or be related to data related to the material. The material passport may include a digital representation of the material data associated with the material 104.

[0114] The material passport may further include or relate to authentication and / or authorization information linked to the material identifier. The authentication and / or authorization information may be provided for authentication and / or authorization of a data providing service and / or data consuming service 210, 214. The material identifier may include or relate to a decentral identifier, that is uniquely associated with the material. The decentral identifier may be connected to the digital representation of the of the material data associated with the material 104. The digital representation may include a representation for accessing the material data or parts thereof. The decentral identifier may include a Universally Unique IDentifier (UUID) or a Digital IDentifier (DID). The decentral identifier may include any unique identifier uniquely associated with a data owner and / or material.

[0115] It should be understood that the material may comprise a chemical product. Hence, the material passport may also comprise a chemical passport product. Additionally or alternatively, the material identifier may comprise a chemical product identifier, and similarly, the material data may also comprise chemical product data. The data owner may be the producer of the material and / or the chemical product. Via the decentral identifier and its unique association with the data owner and / or material and / or chemical product access to the material data may be controlled by the data owner.

[0116] The material passport including the digital representation of material data may be stored in a decentral data base 200. The material data may be stored in a data base 202 associated with the data owner, such as the producer of the material 104.

[0117] The material 104 may be physically delivered to a producer producing a product based on the material. The material may be connected with a QR-code having encoded the material identifier. The user of the material may read the QR- code through a QR-code reader 206. The material identifier may be provided to a data base 208 associated with the producer producing the product based on the material 104. In other embodiments the producer producing a product based on the material may retrieve the material identifier through the decentral data base 200.

[0118] The data owner in this example may be the material producer, any intermediate product producer producing an intermediate product based on the material and / or the chemical product or any producer producing a product based on the material. 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.

[0119] The data consuming service 210, 214 may comprise computer-executable instructions for accessing and / or processing data, such as material data, associated with the data owner. The data providing service 210, 214 may comprise computer-executable instructions for providing and / or processing data, such as material data, associated with the data owner for accessing and / or processing by the data consuming service 210,214.

[0120] Based on the received material identifier a request to access the material data related to the material identifier may be triggered by the data consuming service 214 as signified by arrow 216. The material identifier may be provided to the data providing service 210 associated with or of the producer of the material 104. In addition, authentication and / or authorization information may be provided. The request may be authenticated and / or authorized to access the material data related to the material identifier. Based on successful authorization and / or authentication access to the material data related to the material identifier may be granted.

[0121] For access the material identifier may be provided to the data providing service 210 as signified by arrow 216. The data providing service 210may use the received material identifier to retrieve the material data associated with the material 104 as signified by arrows 218 and 220. The material data associated with the material 104 provided to the data providing service 210may be provided to the data consuming service 214 as signified by arrow 212. The material data associated with the material 104 may be stored in the data base 208 associated with the user of the material 104 as signified by arrow 220.

[0122] Through the material identifier or decentral identifier, the material data can be uniquely associated with the material. Through the decentral network the material data may be transferred between the producer of the material and the user of the material. This way the material data can be shared with unique association to the material and without central intermediary directly between the product supply chain players. This allows for transparency of material data across the product supply chain.

[0123] Similarly, to the providing of material data, tracking data may be provided. For providing tracking data may be generated by a node associated with the intermediate product producer producing an intermediate product based on the material or the producer producing a product based on the material. The tracking data may in one example be provided via a tracking passport. In the following one example embodiment for transferring tracking data to the participant node associated with the material producer is described. This example shall not be considered limiting and only serves illustration purposes.

[0124] The tracking passport may relate to the material identifier. The material identifier may include a decentral identifier. The decentral identifier may be an identifier in the decentral network allowing for data exchange via the decentral network. Data exchange may include discovery of the decentral identifier for participants of the decentral network, authentication of participants of the decentral network and / or authorization of data transfers via a peer-to-peer communication between participants of the decentral network. The tracking passport may include data related to the tracking data. The passport may include a digital representation of the tracking data associated with the material 104 used to produce the intermediate product or product. The tracking passport may be provided by a node associated with the intermediate product producer producing an intermediate product based on the material or the producer producing a product based on the material. Via the tracking passport the tracking data may be provided to a data providing service of the product producer for access by a data consuming service.

[0125] The tracking passport may include or relate to authentication and / or authorization information linked to the material identifier. The authentication and / or authorization information may be provided for authentication and / or authorization of a data providing service and / or data consuming service 210, 214. The material identifier may include or relate to a decentral identifier, that is uniquely associated with the material. The decentral identifier may be connected to the digital representation of the of the tracking data associated with the material 104. The digital representation may include a representation for accessing the tracking data or parts thereof. The decentral identifier may include a Universally Unique IDentifier (UUID) or a Digital IDentifier (DID). The decentral identifier may include any unique identifier uniquely associated with the material.

[0126] The data owner of tracking data may be the intermediate product producer producing an intermediate product based on the material or the producer producing a product based on the material. The tracking data owner may be any intermediate product producer producing an intermediate product based on the material or any producer producing a product based on the material. Via the decentral identifier and its unique association with the tracking data of the material access to the tracking data may be controlled by the data owner. 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.

[0127] The tracking passport including the digital representation of tracking data may be stored in a decentral data base 200. The tracking data may be stored in a data base 208 associated with the data owner, such as the intermediate product producer producing an intermediate product based on the material or the producer producing a product based on the material.

[0128] The data consuming service 210, 214 may comprise computer-executable instructions for accessing and / or processing data, such as material data, associated with the data owner. The data providing service 210, 214 may comprise computer-executable instructions for providing and / or processing data, such as material data, associated with the data owner for accessing and / or processing by the data consuming service 210,214.

[0129] Based on the material identifier a request to access the tracking data related to the material identifier may be triggered by the data consuming service 214 as signified by arrow 216. The material identifier may be provided to the data providing service 210 associated with or of the intermediate product producer producing an intermediate product based on the material 104 or the producer producing a product based on the material 104. In addition, authentication and / or authorization information may be provided. The request may be authenticated and / or authorized to access the tracking data related to the material identifier. Based on successful authorization and / or authentication access to the tracking data related to the material identifier may be granted.

[0130] For access the material identifier may be provided to the data providing service 210 as signified by arrow 216. The data providing service 210 may use the received material identifier to retrieve the tracking data associated with the material 104 as signified by arrows 222 and 220. The tracking data associated with the material 104 provided to the data providing service 210 may be provided to the data consuming service 214 as signified by arrow 222. The tracking data associated with the material 104 may be stored in the data base 202 associated with the user of the material 104 as signified by arrow 218.

[0131] Through the material identifier or decentral identifier, the tracking data can be uniquely associated with the material. Through the decentral network the tracking data may be transferred between the intermediate product producer producing an intermediate product based on the material or the producer producing a product based on the material and the producer of the material and the user of the material. This way the tracking data can be shared with unique association to the material and without central intermediary directly between the product supply chain players. This allows for transparency of tracking data across the product supply chain. Fig. 4 illustrates schematically a flowchart of a method for tracking the material based on at least one authorization rule.

[0132] For tracking a material in the production chain of a product produced based on the material, tracking data may be provided via a decentral network to participant node of the decentral network as lined out in the context of Fig. 3.

[0133] For tracking the material across participant nodes of the decentral network, product data may be generated by the participant node associated with the producer producing the product based on the material. Product data may be generated on production of the product based on the material. The generated product data may be provided to a data base associated with the data providing service 210,214 of the respective participant node of the decentral network. The generated product data may be accessed by data consuming service 210, 214 of other participant nodes of the decentral network.

[0134] For accessing the thus provided product data, at least one authorization rule may be applied by the data owner to provide tracking data. The at least one authorization rule may relate to the decentral identifier associated with the material and / or data related to the material. The at least one authorization rule may provide access for the participant node associated with the material producer to tracking data associated with the product produced based on the material. This relation ensures that the material producer can access tracking data that relates to materials produced by the material producer. The access to tracking data associated with materials of another material producer can thus be avoided.

[0135] The authorization rule may relate to or include at least one event trigger associated with the use of the decentral identifier associated with the material and / or the data related to the material. Such use may include any processing of the decentral identifier associated with the material and / or the data related to the material. For example, concatenating or linking the decentral identifier associated with the product produced based on the material and the decentral identifier associated with the material and / or the data related to the material may be the event trigger specified in the authorization rule.

[0136] The authorization rule may relate to or include a specification of tracking data based on product data associated with the product produced based on the material. The authorization rule may relate to a specification of tracking data derived from product data associated with the product produced based on the material. The authorization rule may relate to or include instructions, which based on the event trigger process product data to generate tracking data and to provide such tracking data. For the event trigger the authorization rule may include instructions that fetch product data specified by the authorization rule to generate tracking data and provide such tracking data. In other embodiments the authorization rule may include instructions that fetch product data, process the product data as specified by the authorization rule to generate tracking data and provide such tracking data. Processing of the product data may include any transformation or mapping of the product data to tracking data, such as aggregation, filtering, joining, enriching or the like. Tracking data may include an application type and application data related to the material. This way the tracking data relevant to material development can be provided and sensitive information of supply chain participants can be masked. The application type may relate to the product type, such as an intermediate product type and / or an endproduct type, which is produced based on the material. The application data may include at least one performance property of the material used to produce the product. The application data may be associated with an application performance of the material used to produce the product. The application performance may be specified by a performance property relating to the material and / or the product produced using the material. The performance property may relate to any application property of the material. The performance property may relate to an application property of the material contained in the product. The performance property may relate to an application property of the use of the material in the production of the product. In such case the product may not contain the material. The material may only be used for the production of the product. One example may be a detergent applied to the product in a production step. In this example, application data may relate to the product performance impacted by such production step.

[0137] Tracking data may be provided or accessed via the decentral network by at least one participant node associated with product producers, such as intermediate product producers or end-product producers. Tracking data may be provided via the decentral network by all participant node associated with product producers, that use the material to produce the product. Tracking data may be provided via the decentral network by selected participant node associated with product producers, that use the material to produce the product. Tracking data may be provided via the decentral network by participant node processing tracking data of participant node associated with product producers, that use the material to produce the product.

[0138] Tracking data may be provided via the decentral network by participant node aggregating, filtering and / or enriching tracking data of participant node associated with product producers, that use the material to produce the product.

[0139] Tracking data may be provided to a data providing service of the product producer for access by a data consuming service. The tracking data may be transferred to the data consuming service of the material producer. Tracking data may be provided by participant node(s), associated with product producers, that use the material to produce the product, via the tracking passport. The tracking passport may include a decentral identifier associated with the tracked product, decentral identifier associated with the tracked material, data related to tracked material data and / or data related to tracked product data. Tracking data may be provided via the decentral network to the participant node associated with the material producer. One example embodiment for transferring tracking data to the participant node associated with the material producer is described in the context of Fig. 3. The example is only for illustrative purposes and shall not be considered limiting.

[0140] Fig. 5 illustrates schematically an example of a method or apparatus for providing the at least one authorization rule. As described in the context of Fig. 4 the authorization rule may relate to or include the event trigger. The authorization rule may relate to or include the specification of tracking data based on product data associated with the product produced based on the material. The authorization rule may relate to or include instructions, which based on the event trigger process product data specified by the authorization rule to generate tracking data and provide such tracking data.

[0141] The authorization rule may be provided as part of a material passport. The material passport may include the decentral identifier associated with the material and / or data related to the material as described in the context of Fig. 3. By providing the authorization rule together with the material passport, the authorization rule may be inherently linked to the decentral identifier associated with the material and / or data related to the material. This link may be persistent or non-persistent.

[0142] If the link is persistent the tracking of the material through the production and / or lifecycle chain can be based on usage or processing of the decentral identifier associated with the material and / or data related to the material at any participant node of the decentral network. In particular, the authorization rule may be provided in connection with the decentral identifier associated with the material and / or the data related to the material and such connection may be maintained on any data exchange relating to the material data. This way the authorization rule may stick directly to the data flow in the decentral network via the decentral identifier associated with the material and / or the data related to the material.

[0143] If the link is non-persistent the tracking of the material through the production and / or lifecycle chain can be based on linking authorization rule to any decentral identifiers associated with the products produced based on the material and / or data related to the products produced based on the material. In both instances the inherent link to the material used to produce the product may be maintained to allow for reverse tracking biodegradability of the material as described herein. In particular, tracking data may be provided via a tracking passport including a decentral identifier associated with the tracked product, decentral identifier associated with the tracked material, data related to tracked material data and / or data related to tracked product data. This way the authorization rule sticks indirectly to the data flow in the decentral network via the decentral identifier associated with the material and / or the material data.

[0144] Fig. 6 illustrates schematically another example of a method or apparatus for providing the at least one authorization rule.

[0145] As described in the context of Fig. 4 the authorization rule may relate to or include the event trigger. The authorization rule may relate to or include the specification of tracking data based on product data associated with the product produced based on the material. The authorization rule may relate to or include instructions, which based on the event trigger process product data specified by the authorization rule to generate tracking data and provide such tracking data. The authorization rule may be provided by an authorization management system. The authorization management system may be associated with the data providing service of the product producer. The authorization management system may include an authorization registry providing the authorization rule in relation to the decentral identifier associated with the tracked product, decentral identifier associated with the tracked material, data related to tracked material data and / or data related to tracked product data.

[0146] The authorization management system may include a decentral tracking application including the authorization rule in relation to the decentral identifier associated with the tracked product, decentral identifier associated with the tracked material, data related to tracked material data and / or data related to tracked product data.

[0147] The product data may be provided to the data providing service of the product producer for access by a decentral tracking application. The decentral application may apply the authorization rule. The product data may be provided to the decentral tracking application and tracking data may be generated by applying the authorization rule. The tracking data may be provided by the decentral tracking application for access by the data consuming service of the material producer.

[0148] The embodiments described in the context of Figs. 5 and 6 the authorization rule may be implemented for pushing and / or by pulling data from the data providing service of participant node to the data consuming service of the material producer.

[0149] For pushing data, the authorization rule may include the event trigger triggering generation of tracking data and a push request for transferring data from the data providing service of participant node to the data consuming service of the material producer.

[0150] For pulling data, the authorization rule may include the event trigger triggering the generation of tracking data and providing such tracking data on receipt of a request for data transfer from the data consuming service of the material producer. The request for data transfer from the data consuming service of the material producer triggers the transfer of data from the data providing service of participant node to the data consuming service of the material producer.

[0151] In some embodiments the authorization rule may be implemented for pushing and pulling data from the data providing service of participant node to the data consuming service of the material producer. Such protocols include push and pull requests. For example, the data consuming service of the material producer may include a monitoring service to gather tracking data via the decentral network. The monitoring service may be triggered by the authorization rule in a push scenario. The authorization rule may include instructions providing the identifier of the participant node to the data consumer service, if the generated tracking data is updated. Based on the identifier of the participant node, the monitoring service may generate the request for transferring tracking data from the data providing service of the participant node to the data consuming service of the material producer. These are only some example protocols for transferring tracking data based on the authorization rule. Other protocols are possible, and the examples provided here shall not be considered limiting.

[0152] Fig. 7 illustrates schematically an example of enforcing the at least one authorization rule. The example illustrates an implementation of an authorization mechanism using usage-controlled data flow. Such example may be implemented in the international data space (IDS) framework as specified for instance in the IDSA Reference Architecture Model, Version 3.0 of April 2019.

[0153] The international data space (IDS) framework is only one example framework. Many other examples exist that may or may not use distributed ledger technology and may or may not use smart contract implementations running on the distributed ledger. Distributed ledger technology include, but are not limited to, technology stacks like Bitcoin (see e.g. Bitcoin documentation of November 11, 2022 published https: / / en.bitcoin.it / wiki / Protocol documentation), Ethereum (see e.g. Ethereum documentation of August 15, 2022 published on https: / / ethereum.org / en / developers / docs / ), Solana (see e.g. Solana documentation of November 11, 2022 published on https: / / spl.solana.com / ), Polygon (see e.g. Polygon documentation of November 11, 2022 published https: / / wiki. polygon. technology / ) or other implementations with varying degree of data transactions performed on the distributed ledger. The description of the example framework is only for illustrative purposes and shall not be considered limiting. The gist of biodegradability reverse tracking may be implemented on any of technology stack forming a decentral network including e.g. peer-to-peer communication based on authentication and / or authorization mechanisms.

[0154] For data exchange or sharing according to IDS framework authentication is executed via IDS connectors. By way of authentication the decentral identifier or data related to the decentral identifier of the accessing entity is available to connector IDS connector. After access to the IDS connector associated with the data providing service has been granted according to the specified procedures, authorization based on authorization rule may follow.

[0155] Usage controlled data flows may be used to enforce authorization rule or usage policies on data exchange or sharing. Usage control may be achieved by binding usage policies to data being exchanged and by continuously controlling the way how data is processed, aggregated or forwarded to other endpoints.

[0156] For enforcing usage policies, data flows may be monitored and potentially intercepted by control points. The intercepted data flows may be passed to a decision engine for requesting permission, denial or modification of the data flow. The decision-making may be based on the evaluation of the usage policy by the decision engine. Data usage transactions may trigger interception and evaluation.

[0157] To provide the set of authorization rules for the material data associated with the decentral identifier of the IDS connector, usage policies may be provided by a policy manager to the decision engine. The usage policies may be stored independently from the data. The policy manager may be present within the IDS connectors and / or within the clearing house to administer usage policies.

[0158] Based on the decentral identifier or data related to the decentral identifier of the accessing entity, the authorization rule for material data associated with a decentral identifier may be selected for enforcement. Enforcement mechanisms may work differently (e.g., work on different system actions) on different systems or technologies. Abstract policies can have different instantiations. Usage policies may be instantiated on the target system. In another example (not shown), usage policies may adhere to the data (also called sticky policy). Sticky policies are one way to cope with the distribution of the usage restrictions. In this approach, machine-readable usage policies may stick to data when it is exchanged. There exist different realization possibilities. For instance, data may be encrypted and can only be decrypted when the adherence to the usage restrictions are guaranteed.

[0159] Usage policies may include additional information provided e.g. by a policy information registry. Additional information may include information about contextual information such as previous data usages or the geographical location of an entity, pre- or post-conditions that have to hold before (e.g. integrity checks) and after (e.g. data item is deleted after usage) the decision-making and on-conditions that have to hold during usage (e.g. only during business hours).

[0160] In case the decision depends on additional information, the decision engine or the control point may request additional information from the policy information registry. The policy information registry information may provide the requested additional information.

[0161] In addition, the policy in-formation registry may be used to get contextual information for or about the intercepted system action (e.g., data flow information, geolocation of the requesting device). For example, the policy information registry may be used to resolve the ID of a supplier to a postal address and the postal address to GPS coordinates.

[0162] The policy executor may be used to perform additional actions based on policy rules, such as sending a notification e.g. via email when data is used or writing to a system log. The action may be triggered by sending the instruction related to the desired additional action from the control point to the policy executor e.g. after the control point receives the additional information from the policy information system. The policy executor may perform the instructed action and may con-firm that the action succeeded to the decision engine.

[0163] After the decision engine receives the confirmation from the policy executor, it may forward its decision to the requesting control point. The decision can comprise allowing the data flow, denying the data flow or modifying the data flow. The decision may be implemented by the control point. The selected authorization rule may be applied to the material data associated with a decentral identifier. The material data associated with the decentral identifier according to the selected authorization rule may be provided. The usage control enforcement can be implemented in the IDS connectors. At runtime, the usage control enforcement prevents IDS connectors from treating data in an undesired way, for example by forwarding personal data to public endpoints. Application of the usage policy associated with the usage enforcement control at the data provider connector or at the data consumer connector may depends on the usage policy. At the data provider connector, usage policies may specify how often data can be accessed, at what times (e.g., only within business hours), or that data must be filtered or masked (e.g., anonymized) before leaving the company. The usage policies at the data provider connector may include obligations for the data consumer. The technical enforcement may be handled by the control point or the policy executor depending on the usage restriction. For example, limiting data flowing to a specific target system to ensure the correct usage purpose may be handled by the control point while the deletion of data in storage infra-structure outside the connector may be handled by the policy executor.

[0164] The usage control enforcement may be implemented at the storage infrastructure. Storage infra-structure may be any kind of storage to persist data such as a file system or a database. The storage infrastructure may be used without modification, but every usage of the data may be handled by the IDS connector. In certain instances, this could lead to a bottleneck. Usage control may be implemented by encrypting the data within the IDS connector connected to the storage infra-structure before transferring the data to the storage infrastructure. Using the data is only possible by using the IDS connector to decrypt the data. Hence, every usage is controlled by the IDS connector. In such cases, usage restrictions such as data lifetime or time constraints can be enforced by deleting the cryptographic key material. Additionally or alternatively, the storage infrastructure may include a usage control enforcement component that monitors and / or controls the usage of the data.

[0165] Usage control enforcement may also be implemented in applications such that the data flow with-in the applications can be controlled and adhered to the usage policies. Similar to the storage infrastructure, a control point can be integrated into the application that controls the data flows.

[0166] The afore-described usage control enforcement in the IDS allows to achieve the following security requirement, which cannot be achieved using traditional access control:

[0167] Secrecy: Classified data must not be forwarded to nodes which do not have the respective clearance, Integrity: Critical data must not be modified by untrusted nodes as otherwise their integrity cannot be guaranteed anymore,

[0168] Time to live: A prerequisite for persisting data is that it must be deleted from storage after a given period of time,

[0169] Anonymization by aggregation: Personal data must only be used as aggregates by untrust-ed parties. A sufficient number of distinct records must be aggregated in order to prevent deanonymization of individual records,

[0170] Anonymization by replacement: Data which allows a personal identification (e.g. faces in camera images) must be replaced by an adequate substitute (e.g. blurred) in order to guarantee that individuals cannot be deanonymized from the data, Separation of duty: Two data sets from competitive entities (e.g. two chemical industries) must never be aggregated or processed by the same service, Usage scope: Data may only serve as input for data pipes within the connector but must never leave the connector to an external endpoint.

[0171] Fig. 8 illustrates schematically an end-product passport including the material passport.

[0172] The configuration shown in Fig. 8 is only one illustrative example and different example configurations for passports anchored by digital identifiers exist. Different configurations include different parent, child, grandchild relationships for passports generated in the production chain up to an end-product or the lifecycle chain up to end-of-life.

[0173] Fig. 8 illustrates a fully embedded configuration for different product generated in the production chain up to the endproduct or the lifecycle chain up to end-of-life. For multiple stages of the production chain up to the end-product or the lifecycle chain up to end-of-life individual passports may be generated. The passport generation may include the providing of a decentral identifier and an authentication mechanism for each of the multiple stages. By fully embedding the material passport, the authorization rule for reverse tracking biodegradability of a material may be embedded in the material passport. This way the authorization rule for reverse tracking biodegradability of the material may be available at any stage of the generated in production chain up to the end-product or the lifecycle chain up to end-of-life.

[0174] In other embodiments individual configuration for different passports generated in the production chain up to the endproduct or the lifecycle chain up to end-of-life may be used. For multiple stages the production chain up to the endproduct or the lifecycle chain up to end-of-life individual passports may be generated. The passport generation may include the providing of a decentral identifier and an authentication mechanism for each of the multiple stages. The relationships of passports at different stages of the production chain up to the end-product or the lifecycle chain up to end-of-life may be based on links between such product passports.

[0175] In yet other embodiments anchored configuration for different passports generated in the production chain up to the end-product or the lifecycle chain up to end-of-life may be used. For multiple stages in of the production chain up to the end-product or the lifecycle chain up to end-of-life individual passports may be generated. The passport generation may include the providing of a decentral identifier and an authentication mechanism for each of the multiple stages. The relationships of passports at different stages may be anchored to the end-product passport based on links from passports at different stages to the end-product passport.

[0176] Figs. 9a, b illustrate schematically an example for reverse tracking biodegradability of material through a production or supply chain. Fig. 9a illustrates an embodiment where the respective tracking data is provided by individual participant nodes of the production or supply chain to the node of the material producer. The authorization rule may be handled as described in the context of Figs. 5 and 6. The authorization rule related to the material may for example be passed on to participant nodes of the production or supply chain.

[0177] The material producer may provide the at least one authorization rule related to the decentral identifier associated with the material and / or data related to the material for access to tracking data by the data consuming service of the material producer. The material producer may provide the at least one authorization to an intermediate product producer. The intermediate product may be produced based on the material. The tracking data of the intermediate product producer may be provided to the data providing service of the intermediate producer. The tracking data of the intermediate product producer may be provided for access by the data consuming service of the material producer.

[0178] The material producer may provide the at least one authorization to the end-product producer for access to tracking data by the data consuming service of the material producer.

[0179] The end-product may be produced based on the intermediate product. The tracking data of the end-product producer may be provided to the data providing service of the end-product producer. The tracking data of the end-product producer may be provided for access by the data consuming service of the material producer.

[0180] The respective tracking data may be provided to the data providing service of the respective product producer for access to tracking data by the data consuming service of the material producer. Biodegradability reverse tracking in this embodiment allows for customization of authorization rules depending on production or supply chain participant without exposing authorization rules to other production or supply chain participants.

[0181] Fig. 9b illustrates an embodiment where the respective tracking data is aggregated at the participant node of the endproduct and the aggregated tracking data is provided to the data consuming service of the material producer. The authorization rule may be handled as described in the context of Figs. 5 and 6. The authorization rule related to the material may for example be passed on to participant nodes of the production or supply chain.

[0182] The material producer may provide the at least one authorization rule related to the decentral identifier associated with the material and / or data related to the material for access to tracking data by the data consuming service of the material producer. The material producer may provide the at least one authorization to an intermediate product producer. The intermediate product may be produced based on the material. The tracking data of the intermediate product producer may be provided to the data providing service of the end producer. The tracking data of the intermediate product producer may be provided for access by the data consuming service of the material producer via the data providing service of the end-product producer. The intermediate product producer may provide the at least one authorization to the end-product producer for access to tracking data by the data consuming service of the material producer. The end-product may be produced based on the intermediate product. The tracking data of the intermediate product producer and the end-product producer may be aggregated at the end-product producer node. The tracking data of the intermediate product producer and the end-product producer may be provided to the data providing service of the end-product producer.

[0183] The tracking data of the intermediate product producer and the end-product producer may be provided for access by the data consuming service of the material producer.

[0184] The respective tracking data may be aggregated along the production and / or lifecylce chain.

[0185] The aggregated tracking data may be provided to the data providing service of the end-product producer for access to tracking data by the data consuming service of the material producer.

[0186] The tracking data of an intermediate product producer may be processed and provided by the end-product producer. Biodegradability reverse tracking in this embodiment allows for consolidated authorization rules from the material producer. The aggregated tracking data transfer from the end-product producer reduced network load.

[0187] The embodiments of Figs. 9a, b are only examples for implementing the methods for biodegradability reverse tracking of materials in supply chains. In other embodiments the authorization rules may be shared as described in the context of Fig. 9b with some supply chain participants and hidden as described in the context of Fig. 9a. Such combination allows for customization and more flexibility in handling decentral transfer of tracking data. The supply chain shown in Figs. 9a, b relates to the production chain of the product and biodegradability reverse tracking of the material used to produce the product. This example may be easily extended to include the lifecycle chain of the product and participant nodes associated with users of the product.

[0188] 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.

[0189] 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.

[0190] 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.

[0191] In the claims as well as in the description the word "comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps and the indefinite article "a” or "an” does not exclude a plurality. A single element or other unit may fulfill the functions of several entities or items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in the mutual different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used in an advantageous implementation. It should also be understood that whenever expressed "at least one”, this may also refer to "one or more”.

[0192] Any disclosure and embodiments described herein relate to the methods, the systems, devices, the computer program element 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.

[0193] All terms and definitions used herein are understood broadly and have their general meaning

Claims

Claims1. A method for reverse tracking a material comprising at least one biodegradable component in relation to a production, use and / or an end-of-life stage of the product produced using the material, the method comprising the steps of: providing at least one authorization rule associated with the material, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access for a material producer to material data generated in relation to the production, use and / or end-of-life stage of the product; generating tracking data associated with at least one property related to the use of the material in the production, use and / or an end-of-life stage by applying the at least one authorization rule to the material data; and providing the tracking data to a data providing service of the product producer, and / or the product user, and / or the end-of-life product processor for access by a data consuming service of the material producer.

2. A method for authorizing a material producer to access reverse tracking data of a material comprising at least one biodegradable component, the method comprises providing at least one authorization rule associated with the material, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access by the material producer to material data generated in relation to a production, use and / or an end-of-life stage of the product produced using the material, wherein the at least one authorization rule includes: at least one event trigger, and at least one instruction configured to generate tracking data associated with at least one property related to the use of the material in the production, use and / or an end-of-life stage from the material data and configured to provide the tracking data.

3. The method according to the preceding claim, wherein the at least one event trigger is associated with detecting a decentral identifier associated with the material and / or detecting data related to material by at least one of: the product producer, the product user, and the end-of-life product processor.

4. The method any of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one authorization rule is related to a decentral identifier associated with the material and / or data related to the material.

5. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one authorization rule is:provided as part of a material passport including a decentral identifier associated with the material and / or data related to the material and / or data related to the at least one biodegradable component of the material; and / or provided by an authorization management system, wherein the authorization management system is associated with the data providing service of the product producer, and / or the product user, and / or the end-of-life product processor.

6. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one authorization rule relates to at least one event trigger associated with the use of the decentral identifier associated with the material and / or data related to the material and / or data related to the at least one biodegradable component of the material.

7. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one authorization rule relates to a specification of tracking data based on product data associated with the product produced using the material.

8. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein providing the tracking data comprises at least one of: transferring tracking data to the data consuming service of the material producer, and providing tracking data associated with respective products are provided to the data providing service of the respective product producer and / or product user and / or end-of-life product processor.

9. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the tracking data associated with respective products is aggregated and provided to the data providing service of an end-product producer and / or end-product user, and / or an end-of-life processor of end-product.

10. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein providing tracking data includes providing a tracking passport including a decentral identifier associated with the product being tracked, data related to the material data being tracked and / or data related to the product data being tracked.11 . The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the tracking data includes application type, product production conditions, application data related to the material during the use stage, performance data related to the material during the use stage, status of the material at the end-of-life stage, a habitat type for biodegrading the material, a habitat or treatment condition for biodegrading the material, and / or at least one property related to the biodegradability of the material and / or related to a habitat for biodegrading the material.

12. An apparatus for reverse tracking a material comprising at least one biodegradable component, wherein the apparatus is configured to provide at least one authorization rule associated with the material, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access for a material producer to material data generated in relation to the production, use and / or end-of-life stage of the product produced using the material;generate tracking data associated with at least one property related to the use of the material in the production, use and / or an end-of-life stage by applying the at least one authorization rule to the material data; and provide the tracking data to a data providing service of a product producer, and / or a product user, and / or an end-of-life product processor for access by a data consuming service of the material producer.

13. A data providing service of a material producer and / or a data providing service of a product producer and / or a product user and / or an end-of-life product processor; or a data consuming service of a material producer configured to process tracking data provided according to the method of any of claims 1 to 11 or as provided by the apparatus according to claim 12.

14. Use of tracking data associated with a material as provided according to the method of any of claims 1 to 11 or as provided by the apparatus according to claim 12 for adapting biodegradability performance of the material and / or for producing biodegradable materials and / or for producing materials comprising at least one biodegradable component.

15. A material associated with at least one authorization rule for tracking the material according to the method of any of claims 1 to 11 or as provided by the apparatus of claim 12.

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