Methods for validating material compliance for production processes

Abstract

The disclosure relates to methods and apparatuses for validating material data associated with material(s) to be used to produce one or more supply chain product(s), digital credential(s) and decentral validation service(s) configured to validate material data associated with material(s) to be used to produce one or more product(s).

Description

[0001] 231459

[0002] METHODS FOR VALIDATING MATERIAL COMPLIANCE FOR PRODUCTION PROCESSES

[0003] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0004] The disclosure relates to methods and apparatuses for validating material data associated with material(s) to be used to produce one or more supply chain product(s), digital credential(s) and decentral validation service(s) configured to validate material data associated with material(s) to be used to produce one or more product(s).

[0005] TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

[0006] Product production processes using input material such as chemicals are complex processes performed in large scale plants requiring the feed of input material(s) fulfilling narrow specifications. To ensure that such specifications are met, the input material(s) are often analyzed prior to feeding them to the production process. In such complex system transparency on the properties of input material(s) is hard to achieve and hampers efficient use of input material(s) within production processes.

[0007] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] In one aspect disclosed is a method for validating material data for monitoring one or more properties of a material critical for producing one or more products having product target properties, wherein the material is to be provided to a production to produce the one or more products, the method comprising: providing - per material and / or per material type - target material property data associated with one or more material properties required for producing the one or more products having the one or more product target properties; providing material data including material property data associated with one or more measured material properties, and one or more digital material identifier associated with the material; validating the material data by applying one or more validation rule(s) based on the provided target material property data to the provided material property data and determining that material fulfills target properties as specified by the provided target material property data to generate a material compliance result indicating that the provided material property data corresponds to the provided target material property data; generating - based on the validated material data - a digital asset including one or more digital credential(s) certifying compliance of the material data with the target material property data; providing the digital asset including one or more digital identifier(s) for access by a data consuming node under control of or controlled by a data providing node associated with data owner of the digital asset.

[0009] In another aspect is disclosed an apparatus for validating material data for monitoring one or more properties of a material critical for producing one or more products having product target properties, wherein the material is to be provided to a production to produce the one or more products, the apparatus comprising: 231459

[0010] 2 a target material data providing interface configured to provide target material property data associated with one or more material properties required for producing the one or more products having the one or more product target properties; a material data providing interface configured to provide material data associated with one or more measured material properties, and one or more digital material identifier associated with the material; a validating interface configured to validate the material data applying one or more validation rule(s) based on the provided target material property data to the provided material property data and determining that material fulfills target properties as specified by the provided target material property data to generate a material compliance result indicating that the provided material property data corresponds to the provided target material property data ; a digital asset generator configured to generate - based on the validated material data - a digital asset including one or more digital credential(s) certifying compliance of the material data with the target material property data, a providing interface configured to provide the generated digital asset including one or more identifier(s) for access by a consuming node under control of or controlled by a data providing node associated with data owner of the digital asset.

[0011] In yet another aspect is disclosed a material associated with the digital asset generated according to the method as recited herein or by the apparatus as recited herein.

[0012] In yet another aspect is disclosed use of the digital asset as generated according to the method of as recited herein or by the apparatus as recited herein for monitoring one or more properties of a material critical for producing one or more products having product target properties, wherein the material is to be provided to a production to produce the one or more products having the product target properties.

[0013] In yet another aspect the present disclosure relates to a computer element with instructions, which when executed on one or more computing node(s) is configured to carry out the steps of the method(s) of the present disclosure or configured to be carried out by the apparatus(es) of the present disclosure.

[0014] Any disclosure, embodiments and examples described herein relate to the methods, the apparatuses, uses, materials, decentral validation service(s), decentral adjustment service(s), 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. Embodiments

[0015] 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.

[0016] Productions, in particular chemical productions, are exposed to dynamic changes regarding the properties of materials fed to such productions. To reliably enable the use of input material(s) with varying chemical and / or physical properties, monitoring of said chemical and / or physical properties is crucial to avoid a negative impact on production processes performed within the productions such as Steam cracking crude oils, ammonia production, multi-step chemical production for polyamides, mixing materials according to formulation recipes for coatings or biologically active material such as herbicides, pesticides, insecticides.

[0017] To reliably monitor the chemical and / or physical properties of material(s) provided to such productions, property data associated with such material (material property data) may be validated and digital credential including at least a part of the validated property data may be generated and linked via a digital material identifier to such material upon successful validation. By validating the material property data associated with such material, it can be ensured that the actual property data associated with said material complies with target material property data defined for the material or material type by the entity operating the production (e.g. that the actual property data fulfils specification(s) provided by the entity using said material to produce supply chain product(s)), hence avoiding additional analysis of the material prior to production of supply chain product(s) to ensure compliance with such specification(s). The digital credential(s) may certify compliance of at least part of the provided material data with the target material property data and may hence be used by the material supplier to certify the material property data fulfils specifications, such as technical specifications, provided by the entity using said material. Such certification may improve the trustworthiness and reliability of the material property data and may allow the entity using the material to operate the production based on such property data without having to perform additional analysis prior to using said material. This may enhance the use of material including polymer produced from one or more monomer via at least chemical reaction or material consisting of other input materials given by individual volume or weight percentages including one or more processing step (e.g. mixing, cutting, grinding, blending, milling, drying, heating) while ensuring the material fulfills given specifications. Improved use of the material may additionally improve the environmental impact of the supply chain products produced using the material.

[0018] By generating a digital credentials including at least a part of the validated property data upon validation of the material property data and providing such digital credential(s) linked via the digital material identifier to the material, such digital credential(s) may be presented to a downstream participant upon entry of the material to the production of such downstream participant to proof compliance of the material property data associated with the provided material with target material property data defined for the material or material type by the downstream participant 231459

[0019] 4 operating the production. The digital credential(s) may be accessed via a decentral network by the recipient of the material using access element(s) stored in decentral registries and being associated with said digital credential(s). The decentral provision of the digital credential(s) via the access element(s) allows to store the digital credential(s) in a dedicated storage associated with or under control of the holder of the digital credential(s) (such as the material producer) and to control access to such stored digital credential(s) by the data owner. This ensures transfer of digital credential(s) in a controlled and secure manner and avoids storage of such digital credential(s) in storage locations not being associated with or under control of the data owner and holder.

[0020] Validated material property data may also be used to generate adjustment data for modify or adjusting material properties and corresponding property data of a produced material so that the produced material, for example, be mixed to generated a new and / or adjusted material, wherein the new and / or adjusted material may fulfil requirements of the target material property data as defined for the material or material type by the entity operating the production and / or entity consuming the material. This avoids generation of waste material of batches which cannot be processed and must be disposed. Blending of such batches allows to reduce the environmental impact associated with the production and use of such materials. Moreover, adjustment of such materials allows using non-complying materials as input materials to productions requiring narrow material specifications despite fluctuating compositions of the material.

[0021] By demonstrating compliance of materials with target material property data defined for such material or material type by the downstream participant operating the production with target digital credential data per input material or input material type, the feed of materials to the production can be monitored and / or controlled based on such digital credential(s) in a reliable manner, hence ensuring that the input material(s) to be fed to the production meet the requirements of plants used within the production in terms of property data of used production input(s).

[0022] Various units, entities, nodes, or other computing components may be described as “configured to” perform a task or tasks. Configured to shall recite structure meaning “having circuitry that” performs the task or tasks on operation. The units, circuits, entities, nodes or other computing components can be configured to perform the task even when the unit / circuit / component is not operating. The units, circuits, entities, nodes or other computing components that form the structure corresponding to “configured to” may include hardware circuits and / or memory storing program instructions executable to implement the operation. The units, circuits, entities, nodes or other computing components may be described as performing a task or tasks, for convenience in the description. Such descriptions shall be interpreted as including the phrase “configured to.”

[0023] In general, the methods, apparatuses, systems, computer elements, nodes or other computing components described herein may include memory, software components and hardware components. The memory can include 231459

[0024] 5 volatile memory such as static or dynamic random-access memory and / or nonvolatile memory such as optical or magnetic disk storage, flash memory, programmable read-only memories, etc. The hardware components may include any combination of combinatoric logic circuitry, clocked storage devices such as flops, registers, latches, etc., finite state machines, memory such as static random-access memory or embedded dynamic random-access memory, custom designed circuitry, programmable logic arrays, etc.

[0025] The one or more material(s) may be used for producing one or more supply chain product(s). The material(s) may be produced by an upstream participant of the supply chain product ecosystem and may be provided to a downstream participant operating the production (e.g. a material user or processor) for production of one or more supply chain product(s). The product ecosystem may include different stages including manufacturing, use and reuse. In these stages one or more ecosystem participant(s) may contribute to the manufacture, use or re-use of the supply chain product. For example, the manufacturing stage may include raw material manufacturers, chemical product manufacturers and / or end-product manufacturers. Further for example, the use stage may include a product user, product maintainers and / or product distributors. Further for example, the re-use stage may include collectors, sorters, dismantlers, recyclers, restorers and / or re-furbishers. The material may be used as an input or feedstock for the production, such as the chemical production. Materials provided to the production to be used as input or feedstock to the production may be denoted as input material or feedstock. The material may be include a polymer produced from one or more monomers via at least one chemical reaction including a raw material, an intermediate chemical product, a chemical product, a part or component or a component assembly or an end-of-life product. The material may be natural, organic and / or inorganic material(s).

[0026] The material (e.g. input material or feedstock to be used for the production) may be associated with or linked to a digital identifier. The digital identifier may comprise any digital identifier uniquely associated with the physical entity of the material. The digital identifier may be a material name, a material ID, a batch number, a LOT number or a combination thereof. The digital material identifier may be associated with a single batch of the material and / or a sample thereof. The digital identifier may be associated with multiple physical entities of the material. The digital identifier may be associated with a continuous or semi-continuous stream of material. The digital identifier may be associated with a stream of the material, e.g. over a certain time period or from a certain supplier. The digital identifier may be linked or connected to material data in particular at least one measured chemical and / or physical property of the material and / or at least one physical and / or chemical property of the material determined from measured data. This way material data may be provided per material.

[0027] An identifier element may be associated with or connected to the material. The identifier element may be associated with or connected to the material at least on production of the material. Through the identifier element a digital twin of the material may be accessible through the decentral network. The identifier element may uniquely relate to the 231459

[0028] 6 material. The identifier element may uniquely relate to the digital identifier. The identifier element may encode the digital identifier.

[0029] The digital identifier may be associated with one or more decentral identifier(s) uniquely related to the material. The digital identifier may include one or more decentral identifier(s) uniquely related to the material. The decentral identifier(s) may signify the digital twin of the physical entity of the material. The decentral identifier may be a digital identifier of or for a 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 materials in the decentral network and participant nodes may be able to interpret the relation of the decentral identifier to the physical entities of materials.

[0030] The decentral identifier may comprise any unique identifier uniquely associated with the producer of the material and the material. The decentral identifier may include one or more Universally Unique Identifier(s) (UUID(s)) or one or more Digital Identifier(s) (DID(s)). The decentral identifier may be issued by a central or decentral identity issuer. The decentral identifier may include authentication information. Via the decentral identifier and its unique association with the with the producer of the material and the material, access to the digital credential(s) may be controlled by the producer of the material. This contrasts with central authority schemes, where identifiers are provided by such central authority and access to data is controlled by such central authority. Decentral in this context refers to the usage of the identifier as controlled by the data owner. The data owner may refer to the owner of the digital credential(s). The data owner may correspond to or be related to the entity producing the material. The digital credential(s) may be stored in dedicated storage(s) associated with or accessible by or controlled by the data owner. This contrasts with decentral systems based on distributed ledger technology (DLT), where data stored in the distributed ledger is replicated over various nodes of the distributed network, hence the distributed ledger as data storage may not be under control of a data owner of the data stored in such distributed ledger.

[0031] The decentral identifier may include one or more identifier(s) used in the decentral network and allowing for data exchange via the decentral network. Data exchange may include discovery of the decentral identifier for network nodes of the decentral network, authentication of network nodes of the decentral network and / or authorization of data transfers via a peer-to-peer communication between network nodes of the decentral network. The decentral identifier may be associated with participants of a material chain, particularly the material loop, including chemical product producer, intermediate chemical producer, intermediate part producer, component producer, component assembly producer, end-product producer, used end-product collector, used end-product sorter, used end-product re-user and / or used end-product recycler. The chemical product producer, intermediate chemical producer, intermediate part producer, component producer, component assembly producer and / or end-product user, may be regarded as end-product users. The decentral identifier may be associated with material entities of a material chain, particularly the material loop, including chemical product(s), intermediate chemical product(s), intermediate part(s), 231459

[0032] 7 component(s), component assembly, and / or end-product. Participants of the material chain may operate, e.g., provide material(s) and / or product supply chain product(s) on behalf of further entity / entities. Such further entity may not provide material(s) and / or produce supply chain product(s). Such further entity may enable participant(s) of the material chain to operate, for example by transferring technology to such participant(s).

[0033] The participants of the material chain or material loop may be connected via the decentral network. The decentral network may include one or more decentral network node(s) configured to perform data transactions. The decentral network node(s) may be associated with participants of the material chain associated with the end-product, particularly a material loop associated with the end-product. 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(s) a peer-to-peer network between decentral network node(s) of the decentral network may be established. The one or more authentication mechanism(s) may be associated with or linked to the decentral identifier(s). The one or more authentication mechanism(s) associated with the decentral identifier(s) may be provided to decentral network node(s). The one or more authentication mechanism(s) associated with the decentral identifier(s) may be accessible by decentral network node(s). The decentral configuration allows for more efficient use of computing resources and strengthens control by each data owner of the decentral network.

[0034] Data providing network node(s) may be configured to provide access to data stored in a dedicated storage associated with the respective data providing network node(s). The data providing network node may be associated with a participant of the production chain of the material, such as the producer of the material. The data providing network node may be associated with an entity or service performing validation of material data. Data, such as material data, technical and / or handling instruction data, safety data, PCF data, recycling data, certificate of analysis data and associated digital credential(s), may be provided by the data providing network node to the decentral network, in particular for access by data consuming network node(s). The access to the data may be under control of the data providing network node associated with said data. The data providing network node may be configured to authenticate the data consuming network node and / or to authorize access to the data by the data consuming network node.

[0035] Data consuming network node(s) may be configured to request access to data stored in a dedicated storage associated with the data providing network node(s). Data consuming network node(s) may be configured to determine access elements associated with the material, for example by querying the decentral network, in particular decentral registries storing access elements. The data consuming network node may be associated with a consumer of the material, such as a chemical product producer using the material, such as a polymer produced from one or more monomers, to produce chemical product(s). The data consuming network node may be associated with the 231459

[0036] 8 entity or service validating the material data. Generated data, such as the material data, digital credential(s), may be accessed by the data consuming network node(s) upon authentication and / or authorization.

[0037] The product(s) may be produced from one or more input material(s) by the production. The supply chain product(s) may include intermediate chemical product(s), chemical product(s), part(s) or component(s), component assembly / ies, end-product(s). The production may be a chemical production. The chemical production may produce one or more chemical intermediate products or chemical products. The chemical production may chemically and / or physically convert one or more input material(s) to supply chain product(s). The conversion may take place via chemical intermediates. The chemical production may be a chemical production network that chemically converts input materials via chemical intermediates to chemical products (e.g., supply chain products) that exit the chemical production network. The chemical production network may include a complex production network producing multiple chemical products in multiple production or value chains. A production or value chain may include one or more process(es) configured to produce one chemical product or chemical product class from one or more input material(s). The chemical production network may include connected, interconnected and / or non-connected production chains. The production chains included in the chemical production network may be defined by the physical system boundary of the chemical production network. The system boundary may be defined by location or control over production processes. The system boundary may be defined by the value chain with staggered production processes to an end-product (or final product), which may be controlled by multiple entities jointly or separately. The chemical production network may include a waste collection and sorting step, a recycling step such as pyrolysis, a cracking step such as steam cracking, a production step to produce chemical products or intermediates from provided inbound material(s), a separation step to separate intermediates of one process step and further processing steps to convert such outputs to chemical product(s) leaving the system boundary of the chemical production network. The chemical production network may produce from input materials multiple intermediates and from intermediates one or more chemical products. Input material may enter the chemical production network at entry points. The input material may be fed to the chemical production network at the start of the production process or at any intermediate stage of the production process, e.g., of the production chain producing the output material. Chemical products may leave the production network at exit points (or feed-out points). The production may be a discrete production. The discrete production may produce one or more discrete product(s) from one or more input material(s).

[0038] Material data may refer to any data characterizing material(s) to be used to produce one or more supply chain product(s). Material data may also be denoted as input material data hereinafter. Material data may relate but is not limited to material name, material composition, emission data of the material and / or material production data. Material data may include property data of the material. The material data may be signed by the entity generating the material property data using a private key associated with said entity or a representative thereof. The material 231459

[0039] 9 property data may include chemical property data associated with chemical property / ies of the material and / or physical property data associated with physical property / ies of the material. Chemical properties may describe the change of the material’s chemical composition given a specific set of conditions. Chemical properties may include flammability, (eco-)toxicity, acidity, reactivity, combustibility, concentrations of components including contaminants or the like. Property data may relate to physical properties. Physical properties may be used to describe the physical characteristics of the material. Physical properties may be observed or measured without changing the identity of the material. Physical properties may include color, density, hardness, a boiling point or boiling range, flashpoint, melting point, and / or pour point or the like. Chemical and / or physical properties may relate to any chemical and / or physical property of the material that may be relevant and / or critical for following downstream processing steps and / or further use of material(s).

[0040] The material property data may include at least one measured chemical and / or physical property and / or at least one chemical and / or physical property determined from measurement data. Measurement data may refer to quantitative property data. Measurement data may be generated by analyzing material(s). Measurement data of the material(s) may be generated by analyzing physical samples of the material(s). This may include collecting sample(s) from the material, processing and / or acquiring measurement data from the collected sample(s) and determining at least one chemical and / or physical property from the obtained measurement data. The measured at least one physical and / or chemical property may be obtained by sensor(s) configured to measure the respective at least one physical and / or chemical property. The sensor(s) may be included in a measuring device. The sensor(s) may correspond to the measuring device. For analyzing physical samples one or more analytical instruments may be used such as analysis equipment, spectrometer and / or calorimeters. The sensor data may be interrelated with the digital identifier associated with the material. The chemical and / or physical property data determined from the sensor data may be interrelated with the digital identifier associated with the material.

[0041] The target material property data per material or material type may relate to target chemical and / or physical property(ies) (e.g. specif ication(s)) for the material and / or material type. The target material property data may be generated by the downstream participant of the supply chain product ecosystem processing the material produced by the material producer (e.g. the associated upstream participant of the supply chain product ecosystem). The target material property data may be provided by the entity processing the material. The target material property data may be provided by the entity generating the material data. The target material property data may be provided by the entity producing the material. The target material property data per material or material type may include property data, such as chemical and / or physical property data, critical for one or more subsequent processing step(s) of the material by one or more downstream participant(s) of the supply chain product ecosystem. Chemical and / or physical property data critical for subsequent processing step(s) may signify chemical and / or physical property data that impedes at least one subsequent processing steps and / or at least one plant performing a 231459

[0042] 10 subsequent processing step and / or the quality of the supply chain product resulting from at least one subsequent processing step. Chemical and / or physical property data critical for subsequent processing step(s) may relate to the subsequent processing and / or the use of the supply chain product(s) obtained from such processing step(s). Critical chemical and / or physical property data associated with the material, such as a polymer produced from one or more monomers, may relate to the further processing of such material, for example, crosslinking, blending, incorporating additives and performing modifications. For instance, critical chemical and / or physical property data associated with the blending may include polymer composition, polymer ratio, melting point, glass transition temperature (Tg), melt viscosity, mechanical properties, thermal stability, compatibility and phase separation properties.

[0043] The material type may relate to a type or class of the material, a use of the material and / or the feedstock used to produce the material. The type or class of the material may relate to the name of the material and / or a material identifier assigned according to a predefined rule set. The name of the material may relate to the production of the material. The material identifier may relate to the CAS number, EC number, REACh registration number etc. The feedstock used to produce the material may have an influence on the chemical and / or physical property(ies) of the resulting material, for instance on the chemical composition of the resulting material. Hence, different specifications for materials produced from different feedstocks may be needed to ensure efficient processing of such materials. The feedstock for producing pyrolysis oil may, for example include vegetable oil from food production, oil from a specific location, mixed plastics waste and / or tires.

[0044] A digital credential may refer to a dataset including one or more claims, e.g. assertion(s), about a subject, made by an issuer of the digital credential. The subject may refer to the physical entity of the material, such as a batch of produced material, about which claim(s) are made. The subject may refer to property data of the material about which claim(s) are made. The digital credential may include a claim per property data point being valid. The digital credential may include a claim per group of property data points being valid. For instance, the digital credential may include a claim per chemical property data points being valid and a claim per physical property data points being valid. The digital credential may include a claim that the material property data conforms to the target material property data and may list the material property data that conforms to the target material property data. The digital credential may further include a claim that the entity providing the material data conforms to given specifications, e.g. holds given certifications. The issuer may assert one or more claim(s) about the subject, may generate the digital credential and may issue the generated credential to a holder, such as the material producer. The issuer may be an entity, such as a legal entity. The issuer may be a device or a network node, such as a network node of a decentral system. The dataset may include an identifier associated with the digital credential (e.g. a credential identifier), issuer data, issuance data, expiration data and data on the credential subject. The dataset may further include proof data. Issuer data may include a URI, such as a URL, pointing to the data associated with the issuer, such as the issuer name, issuer ID, issuer address. The data on the credential subject may include the digital 231459

[0045] 1 1 identifier of the material associated with the validated material data and one or more claim(s) on the subject. The claim(s) may include the validated properties, such as validated chemical and / or physical properties of the material.

[0046] The digital credential may include the digital identifier(s) and at least a part of the validated property data associated with the material. The digital credential may include the digital identifier(s), at least a part of the material property data and data indicating at least the non-validated property data may be generated. The digital identifier(s) may be associated with or related to an identifier element physically attached to the material. This may allow to link the digital credential to the physical entity of the material. The validated property data may be associated with digital credential(s), for example via the digital identifier(s), e.g., the digital identifier(s) may be included in the digital credential(s) or vice versa. The digital credential may further include data being indicative of the producer of the material, such as the name, address and / or producer ID. The digital credential may be signed, for example by a private key associated with the entity generating the material data. The private key may be generated by the entity or service performing the inventive methods. The digital credential may include the public key associated with the private key to allow verification of the signature. The digital credential may indicate the quality of the material and may be used to demonstrate that the material conforms to target specification(s).

[0047] The material may be associated with an access element via the decentral identifier associated with the material. The access element may include access data and one or more decentral identifier(s) associated with the material. The access data associated with the digital credential(s) . The access data may include a locator or pointer, such as an URL (Uniform Resource Locator) or URI (Uniform Resource Identifier), to a dedicated storage, such as a dedicated storage address, storing the associated digital credential(s). The storage type may include relational and non-relational data base systems, file based storage, repository-oriented storage, block-based storage, objectbased storage, list-based storage (including blockchains), content-addressable storage accessible via defined querying methods, protocols and / or interfaces. The storage location may be associated with or under control of the data owner of the associated digital credential(s). The pointer or locator may point directly to the dedicated storage. The pointer or locator may point to a data providing network node associated with the dedicated storage. This may increase data security since the dedicated storage address is not published to further participants of the decentral network hence avoiding the risk of direct access of the dedicated storage without access control via the decentral data providing network node. The access data may include one or more digital link(s) or endpoint address(es) pointing to the digital credential(s) of the material. The access element may include one or more authentication mechanisms associated with the decentral identifier(s) and the access data. The access element may relate to one or more authorization mechanisms associated with the decentral identifier(s) and the access data. The one or more authorization mechanisms may include authorization rules determining if access to the digital credential(s) is granted. The one or more authorization mechanisms may be associated with the digital credential(s). The one or more authorization mechanisms may define decentral data consuming nodes allowed to access the digital credential(s). This may allow to filter data consuming nodes requesting access to such data based on the authorization mechanisms.

[0048] The access element may be provided to a decentral registry storing access elements. The decentral registry may be associated with a data providing network node. The decentral registry may be associated with or controlled by the data owner of the data the access elements stored in said registry are associated with. For instance, the decentral registry may be associated with or controlled by the data owner of the digital credential(s) the access elements stored in said registry are associated with. This may allow the data owner to control access to such decentral registry and retrieval of access elements stored therein. This contrasts with decentral networks based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) where the distributed ledger serving as such decentral registry is stored in multiple node(s) of the network such that the decentral registry is no longer under control of the data owner of access elements stored in such distributed ledger. The data providing network node may be associated with the data owner of the digital credential(s) which are associated with or linked to the respective access elements stored in such decentral registry. This may allow to control access to such registry and access to access element(s) stored in such registry via the data providing network node. The decentral registry may be associated with a participant of the decentral network, e.g. at least a part of the participants may operate one or more decentral registry(ies). The decentral registry may be part of the decentral network but may not be associated with a particular participant of the decentral network, e.g. may be regarded as infrastructure node of the decentral network. A query may be sent via a data consuming network node to the decentral registry to determine whether the decentral registry stores access element(s) matching the query data. The query data may include the digital identifier(s) associated with the material and / or the decentral identifier(s) associated with the material. The query may be sent to a data providing network node associated with the registry to ensure that only authenticated data consuming network node(s) can query the data contained in the decentral registry.

[0049] A rule-based engine may be used to verify at least part of the gathered input material data. The rule-based engine may be a software or software component that applies one or more rules to at least part of the gathered input material data. The rule-based engine used to verify at least part of the gathered input material data may include target digital credential data per input material or per input material type. Target digital credential data may be associated with individual data point(s) to be included in the gathered input material data, multiple data points to be included in the gathered input material data, a whole dataset to be included in the gathered input material data and / or digital credential type(s) to be included in the gathered input material data. Target digital credential data associated with individual data point(s) may include one or more rule(s) defining mandatory individual data points to be present with the gathered input material data. The individual data points may correspond to attribute(s) defining the digital credential type, attribute(s) defining the digital credential issuer, attribute(s) defining the validity of the digital credential, attribute(s) defining the input material or input material type and / or attribute(s) defining claims or 231459

[0050] 13 assertions included in the digital credential. Target digital credential data associated with multiple data points may include one or more rules defining allowable combination of data points. Target digital credential data associated with the whole input material data may include one or more rules defining data to be contained within the gathered input material data.

[0051] A batch of material may refer to defined volume or quantity of the material. Such defined volume or quantity may also be denoted as LOT. The defined volume or quantity of the material may be packaged within a packaging unit or a storage means, such as a tank, a container, a bag, a bottle or the like. The packaging unit or storage means may comprise a defined volume. The defined volume or quantity of the material may be obtained from a single production run. In addition to or alternatively, the defined volume or quantity may correspond to material produced under the same conditions and within a specified time frame of a continuous production.

[0052] In an embodiment, the material property data includes at least one measured chemical and / or physical property of the material and / or at least one physical and / or chemical property of the material determined from measured data. The measured and / or determined chemical and / or physical property may include molecular weight, polymer composition, chemical structure, crystallinity, glass transition temperature (Tg), melting point, thermal stability, chemical resistance, solubility, density, mechanical properties such as tensile strength, elongation at break and impact resistance, hardness, flexibility, transparence or opacity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, water absorption, surface energy, pH in dissolution, corrosiveness, volatility, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) properties, outgassing, off-gassing, rheological properties such as viscosity, shear thinning behavior, and viscoelastic properties of the polymer can be determined based on its melt flow behavior and mechanical response to applied stress, barrier properties such permeability to gases or liquids can be estimated based on the polymer's chemical structure and its interactions with different substances, and compatibility of the polymer with other materials can be assessed based on its solubility parameters and intermolecular interactions. The respective data may include a single value or a range. Data related to the compatibility of the material with packaging materials may include a classifier discriminating between compatible and non-compatible. The classifier may be associated with the respective packaging material or combinations thereof. The classifier may signify the respective packaging material or combinations thereof as compatible or non-compatible. This data may avoid contamination of the material upon storage of the material within the packaging material.

[0053] In another embodiment, the material property data includes a Certificate of Analysis including at least one measured chemical and / or physical property of the material and / or at least one physical and / or chemical property of the material determined from measured data. The Certificate of Analysis data may further include issuance data, issuer data and proof data associated with the issuer. The Certificate of Analysis data may be generated by an entity 14 producing the material and may be provided along with entity data associated with the entity producing the material to the validation service for validation processes.

[0054] In an embodiment at least a part of the material property data is validated if said part is included in the provided target physical property data of the material. Validation may include matching at least a part of the provided material property data with the target material property data. The provided material property data may be valid or validated if at least a part of said data, in particular the complete property data, matches the target physical property data. The validation may be performed per property data point contained in the provided material property data. For instance, each data point included in the provided material property data may be matched or compared to the respective data point included in the target material property data. Validation allows to determine whether the provided material property data associated with the material fulfils target material property data, e.g. fulfils specification(s) with respect the material defined by a consumer of said material, such as a downstream participant consuming the material produced by a material producer (e.g. the respective upstream participant).

[0055] In an embodiment, validation includes acceptance of at least part of the provided material data. Acceptance may include accepting at least part of the provided material data to be reliable and trustworthy.

[0056] In an embodiment, validation further includes comparing the provided material data with previously provided material data being associated with the same material type. This allows to determine whether the provided material data appears to be plausible and avoids that the same material data can be provided for different materials or that material data for the same material is provided twice. This ensures that generation of digital credential(s) is not based on the same material data for different batches of a material, since such batches normally vary in their chemical and / or physical properties due to production conditions and properties of production input(s) used. In addition, this avoids that the digital credential(s) are repeatedly generated for the same material data. The previously provided material data may be stored in a data storage. The previously provided material data may be interrelated with the digital identifier(s), the material type and / or entity data.

[0057] In an embodiment, the validated property data included in the generated digital credential(s) is indicated by a classifier or by matching target material property data. The classifier may be a binary classifier discriminating between validated and non-validated property data. The validated property data may be associated with a classifier indicating validated property data. Validated property data may be indicated by the classifier “validated”. Associating validated property data with matching target material property data allows comparison between the material property data and the respective target material property data to determine that the material property data matches the respective target material property data. 15

[0058] In an embodiment the provided material property data is not validated if at least a part of the provided material property data does not match the provided target material property data per input material or input material type. Thus, based on a non-validation of the provided material property data, a “non-validating” digital credential including the digital identifier(s) and at least a part of the non-validated property data is generated. The non-validating digital credential may also include validated property data. No digital credential validating the material may be generated if at least a part of the provided material property data is rejected. The non-validated property data and / or the validated property data may be indicated by a classifier. The classifier may be a binary classifier distinguishing between validation and non-validation. The non-validated property data may be indicated by association of such non-validated property data with respective target material property data. This may allow a comparison between the respective property data and the target material property data and hence allows to determine whether the material property data can be regarded as “validated” or as “non-validated”. Generation of such a digital credential may trigger adjusting the composition of the material, for example by mixing the material with other batches of the same material such that the material property data of the adjusted composition (e.g. adjusted property data) fulfils the target material property data. Moreover, this may trigger adjustment of composition of the material, for example, by mixing the material with other batches of the same material such that the one or more property of the material is adjusted to fulfil the requirements of the target material property data and / or adding additional material, e.g., additives to adjust pH-values, other such a small amount of a given color to adjust color for producing nuances of a given color such a drop of black to tint a coating composition to yield a darker color.

[0059] In an embodiment, the digital credential(s) include or correspond to one or more verifiable credential(s). The verifiable credential may refer to a tamper-evident credential that has authorship that can be cryptographically verified. For instance, the verifiable credential may contain proof data. The proof data may be generated using the private key associated with the issuer. The proof data which may be cryptographically verified using the public key associated with said private key.

[0060] In an embodiment, the digital credential(s) include a material identifier, data being indicative that the material property data is validated property data. Data being indicative that the material property data is validated property data may include an identifier of the target material property data, a name of the target material property data, a version of the target material property data, the validated property data and / or a hash value of such validated property data. Data being indicative that the entity issuing the digital credential(s) fulfils predefined rules may include an identifier associated with the entity, and certification data associated with certifications held by the entity. In an embodiment, the digital credential(s) are provided to a decentral data consuming network node associated with the producer of the material. The digital credential(s) may be provided by a decentral data providing network node associated with the device or service generating the digital credential(s). Likewise, the digital credential(s) may be provided to a decentral data consuming network node associated with the producer of the material. The digital 231459

[0061] 16 credential(s) may be provided by a decentral data providing network node associated with the device or service generating the digital credential(s). In an embodiment of a method for adjusting property data associated with a material to be provided to a chemical production, digital identifiers associated with different available batches of the same material are provided. Available batches may be batches of the material not having been provided to consumers of the material. The digital identifiers and associated availability data may be stored in a data storage and such data storage may be queried to provide digital identifiers associated with available batches. Availability data may indicate whether or not the material is sold and / or ordered by a customer of the material producer.

[0062] In an embodiment of the method for monitoring one or more substance(s) critical for producing supply chain product(s) from a material provided to a production, the digital credential(s) is accessed by one or more data consuming network node(s) associated with the consumer of the material. The consumer of the material may use the material as input material for the production operated by said consumer. The digital credential(s) may be accessed via access element(s) associated with said digital credential(s). For instance, the identifier element physically attached to the material (e.g. input material) may be associated with the digital identifier associated with the material. The digital identifier associated with the material may be determined from the identifier element and may be used to gather the access element(s) associated with said material via the decentral network. The access element(s) may include the digital identifier, hence allowing to query the decentral network for such access element based on the determined digital identifier. The access data contained in the gathered access element(s) may be used to access the digital credential(s) linked to said access element(s). The digital credential(s) may be requested via the decentral data consuming network node from the decentral data providing network node associated with a dedicated storage storing said digital credential(s).

[0063] In an embodiment of the method for monitoring one or more substance(s) critical for producing supply chain product(s) from a material provided to a production, the access element relates to authorization mechanisms providing access to the digital credential(s) depending on a decentral participant identifier. The participants of the decentral network may be associated with decentral participant identifiers. Each participant of the decentral network may be associated with one or more decentral participant identifier(s). The decentral participant identifier may comprise any identifier uniquely associated with a participant of the decentral network and / or with a production site of the participant of the decentral network. The decentral participant identifier may include letters and / or numbers. The decentral participant identifier may include one or more Universally Unique Identifier(s) (UUID(s)) and / or one or more Decentralized Identifier(s) (DID(s)). The decentral participant identifier may be associated with or may include a verifiable claim or credential. The verifiable claim may be issued by a central or decentral identity issuer making one or more claims about a subject, such as a consumer entity being a trustworthy participant of the decentral network. The verifiable credential may be presented by the decentral data consuming network node and may be used by the decentral data providing network node to verify that the decentral participant associated with 231459

[0064] 17 the decentral data consuming network node is a trusted entity within the decentral network prior to providing access to the digital twin, hence ensuring that the requested data can be exchanged in a secure and controlled manner within the decentral network.

[0065] In an embodiment of a method for monitoring and / or controlling the production of supply chain products from one or more input material(s) by a chemical production, the input material may not be provided to the chemical production if the gathered input material data is rejected. Rejection of the gathered input material data may include nonvalidation of the gathered input material data. The input material data may be rejected if at least a part of the gathered input material data is not validated. The gathered input material data is rejected if the input material data does not include at least a part of the target digital credential data per input material or input material type. For instance, the gathered input material data may be rejected if such gathered data does not contain one or more digital credential type(s) defined by the target digital credential data. This may ensure that only input material data complying with given specifications, such as input material data associated with target digital credential(s), is validated, hence ensuring that the input material(s) entering the production fulfil the specification(s) required by production step(s) performed within the production. This avoids a negative impact on the production resulting from insufficient quality, e.g. property data of the input material not matching the required specification(s), e.g. target material property data, for input materials to be processed by the production.

[0066] In an embodiment of a method for monitoring and / or controlling the production of supply chain products from one or more input material(s) by a chemical production, the input material data may include a digital credential presentation including one or more digital credential(s) associated with the material and / or the material supplier. The presentation may be a verifiable presentation. A verifiable presentation may refer to a tamper-evident presentation encoded in such a way that authorship of the data can be trusted after a process of cryptographic verification. The digital credential presentation may be generated by selecting one or more digital credential(s) associated with the material and generating the digital credential presentation based on the selected digital credential(s). The selected digital credential(s) may include digital credential(s) associated with the material and being generated by the methods disclosed herein (e.g. certifying compliance of at least part of the provided material data and / or digital credential(s) associated with the material producer and certifying at least partial compliance with a predefined rule set(s) which is not defined by the material consumer. The predefined rule set may be defined by a government, a standard setting organization, a certification body or the like. The predefined rule set may include regulations that need to be fulfilled by entities requesting certification according to the regulations. For example, digital credential(s) certifying at least partial compliance with a predefined rule set(s) may include digital credential(s) certifying at least partial compliance with ISCC standard or ISCC+ standard, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standard, Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) standard, Global Organic 231459

[0067] 18

[0068] Textile Standard (GOTS), Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) standard and / or Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) standard.

[0069] In an embodiment of a method for monitoring and / or controlling the production of supply chain products from one or more input material(s) by a chemical production, the rule-based engine operates on individual data points present within at least part of the digital credentials included in the gathered input material data, multiple data points present within at least part of the digital credentials included in the gathered input material data and / or the whole digital credential(s) included in the gathered input material data. The rule-based engine may be configured to match digital credential data included in the gathered digital credential(s) to target digital credential data associated with the input material or input material type. The target digital credential data may include rule(s) for individual data point(s), combination of data point(s) and / or the whole data contained in the digital credential. The target digital credential data may be associated with a given input material or a given input material type. The rule-based engine may be configured to determine target digital credential data matching the input material or input material type the gathered in put material data is associated with. For instance, the rule-based engine may be configured to parse the gathered digital credential(s) to determine attribute(s) included in the digital credential(s) and being related to or associated with the input material or input material type. Based on such attribute(s), respective target digital credential data may be determined, for example by matching such attribute(s) to attribute(s) included in the target digital credential data.

[0070] The rule-based engine may operate on the individual data point(s) present within the digital credential(s), combinations of data points present within the digital credential(s)and / or the whole digital credential(s) set the target digital credential data as previously described. For instance, the rule-based engine may apply target digital credential data to individual data point(s), multiple data point(s) and / or the whole dataset to determine whether the digital credential(s) include mandatory data point(s), mandatory combinations of data point(s) and / or a mandatory data content. If the rule-based engine determines that the individual data point(s), multiple data point(s) and / or the whole dataset matches the respective target digital credential data, said digital credential may be regarded as verified.

[0071] In an embodiment of the method for monitoring and / or controlling at least one operation to be performed on a material provided to a chemical production, the operation includes mixing of different batches of the material, removing at least one chemical compound present within the material, reducing the amount of at least one chemical compound present within the material, incinerating the material or rejecting the material (e.g. not providing the material to any production process performed within the chemical production). The chemical compound(s) may be critical for one or more subsequent operation(s) performed within the chemical production. For instance, halogen and / or contaminants included in the material may be critical for one or more subsequent operations. Different 231459

[0072] 19 refining operations may be combined to ensure that the predefined chemical and / or physical properties are fulfilled. Mixing operations, removal of chemical compound(s) and reduction of chemical compound(s) may be referred to as refining operations. Refining operations may allow to adjust the material property data of the material such that the material property data associated with the refined material fulfils target material property data. This avoids a negative impact on the operations performed within the chemical production as well as the disposal of such material as waste. In addition, this allows to use material with fluctuating material composition as feedstock for chemical production, allowing to reduce the environmental impact of chemical products produced from such feedstock. Hence, this may help in reducing the amount of fossil feedstock used within chemical productions without negatively influencing the operations and quality of the resulting chemical products.

[0073] In an embodiment of the method for monitoring and / or controlling at least one operation to be performed on a material provided to a chemical production, candidate operation data may include operation identifiers per candidate operation, threshold value(s) for property data per candidate operation, a material identifier or material type identifier per candidate operation and / or adjustment data per property data and per candidate operation. Candidate operations may refer to operations that may be performed on materials entering the chemical production prior to using such materials within production processes performed within the chemical production. Threshold value(s) may be associated with upper and / or lower limits included in the material property data. The threshold value(s) may be given for at least a part of the material property data point(s) included in the material property data. The threshold value(s) may be based on the upper or lower limits of chemical and / or physical properties of materials that are processable within said refining operation. The adjustment data may be associated with the degree of adjustment of the material property data achieved by the respective refining operation. The adjustment data may be given as relative value. The adjustment data may be given for at least a part of the material property data point(s) included in the material property data.

[0074] In one embodiment, when the material does not fulfill target properties as specified in the provided target material property data, no digital asset may be generated, and the method may comprise generating a communication that generation and / or validation of the digital asset including the one or more digital credential(s) certifying compliance of the material data is not possible.

[0075] In another embodiment, the material property data may be provided by data owner of the material data and / or entity producing the material and / or material owner.

[0076] In a further embodiment, the target material property data may be provided by material consumer and / or material processor and / or entity operating a production. Moreover, the measured material properties may include one or more measured chemical and / physical properties of the material, and / or one or more chemical and / or physical properties of the material determined from the one or more measured chemical and / or physical properties of the material. The one or more digital credential(s) may include one or more verifiable credential(s).

[0077] In yet another embodiment, validating may include generating a validation score associated with a degree of correlation between the provided material property data and the provided target data, the validation score being determined by aggregating validation scores for individual target material properties. Additionally or alternative, aggregating of validation score may include weight to take account of potential difference between different properties and their effect on the validation.

[0078] In yet another embodiment, validating the material data may include applying the one or one or more validation rule(s) based on the provided target material property data to the provided material property data, wherein the material data may be validated if the validation score lies within a pre-defined range.

[0079] Furthermore, when the given validation score does not lie within the pre-defined range, a communication indicating that generating and / or validating of the digital asset including the one or more digital credential(s) certifying compliance of the material data is not possible may be generated.

[0080] In one embodiment, the one or more digital(s) include one or more decentral identifier(s), and the digital asset may be provided for access by a decentral data consuming node under control of or controlled by a decentral data providing node associated with the data owner of the digital asset via a decentral network protocol.

[0081] In a further embodiment, providing the material data may include: providing one or more material type(s); retrieving - based on the provided one or more material type(s) - from one or more database(s) one or more material properties associated to the provided one or more material type(s); outputting - based on the retrieved one or more material properties - a material property profile including one or more properties specified in the one or more database(s) for the provided one or more material type(s); providing the output of the material property profile to a material producer for selecting material data including to be provided for validation of target property material data.

[0082] In one embodiment- when the material does not fulfill target properties as specified the provided target material property - the generator interface may be configured to generate a communication that generation and / or validation of the digital asset is not possible, and the providing interface may be configured to provide the generated communication. 231459

[0083] 21

[0084] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0085] In the following, the present disclosure is further described with reference to the enclosed figures. The same reference numbers in the drawings and this disclosure are intended to refer to the same or like elements, components, and / or parts. The description of drawings is provided for illustrative purposes and shall not be considered limiting. The embodiments and examples are illustrative embodiments and examples to further line out the concepts lined out herein. The figures include schematic illustrations and shall not be considered limiting. Other embodiments and examples that fall under the concepts lined out herein are possible and may not be explicitly described herein.

[0086] 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.

[0087] FIG. 2A illustrates an example system for validating material data associated with a material to be used for production of one or more product(s) having target properties in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0088] FIG. 2B illustrates a further example system for validating material data associated with a material to be used for the production of one or more product(s) having target properties in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0089] FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of an example of a method for validating material data associated with a material to be used for the production of one or more product(s) in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0090] FIG. 4 shows a schematic illustration of a digital asset generated according to the method of the present disclosure.

[0091] FIG. 5A shows a schematic illustration of a digital credential generated according to the method of the present disclosure.

[0092] FIG. 5B shows a basic JSON structure of a digital credential generated according to the method of the present disclosure and / or by the systems of the present disclosure.

[0093] FIG. 5C shows a basic JSON structure of a digital asset generated according to the method of the present disclosure and / or by the systems of the present disclosure.

[0094] FIG. 6A illustrates a flow chart of an example method for monitoring one or more substance(s) critical for producing supply chain product(s) from one or more materials provided to a production in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0095] FIG. 6B illustrates a flow chart of an example method for monitoring one or more substance(s) critical for producing supply chain product(s) from one or more materials provided to a production in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. 231459

[0096] 22

[0097] FIG. 7 illustrates a first example of a digital access element including DID owner data and DID document data and being associated with a decentral identity infrastructure in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0098] FIG. 8 illustrates a further example of a digital access element associated with a decentral identity infrastructure in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0099] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0100] FIG. 1 illustrates an example embodiment of a circular material loop 130 including material participants 102 to 1 12 connected through a decentral network 134 including decentral network nodes 128 to 126 associated with the material participants 102 to 1 12.

[0101] 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 a material production chain(s), in which the material is produced by a material producer 102 and used to produce an end-product, for example by an original equipment manufacturer such as chemical product user 104. The linear material chain(s) may include a material recycling chain, in which the produced end-product is collected, sorted and recycled up to a recycler 112 and the recyclate is used to produce new material by the material producer 102. 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 130.

[0102] The material chain network may include a material loop network 130 including the use of recycled material(s) to produce new materials. One or more material loop(s) 130 may allow to use materials resulting from recycling of end-of-life products to produce new products, such as chemical intermediate products or chemical products, associated with one or more material chain(s). The material chain network, preferably the material loop 130, may include the production, use and / or recycling of physical materials or products 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. The chemical product may include chemical intermediate products and chemical products.

[0103] Material may refer to a chemical product. 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 non-discrete 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. 23

[0104] The discrete product may refer to a discrete component, a discrete component assembly, an end-product, an end- of-life product, a product to be recycled, or a recycled discrete product.

[0105] 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 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.

[0106] 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 fulfil the requirements for its use. End-of-life product may refer to any substance or object which the holder discards, intends to discard or must discard. The holder may discard the substance or object if the holder consigns the substances or objects to recycling, to disposal or relinquishes actual control over them and ceases to use them for any other purpose. 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. End-of-life products may form waste, such as waste streams. 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 material that has been produced using end-of-life product(s).

[0107] The material loop 130 illustrated in FIG. 1 may include multiple participants 102 to 112 forming the material loop 130. The material loop 130 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 material production.

[0108] The participant(s) 102 to 112 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 130 may include the chemical product producer 102, the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) 104, the end-product user 106, maintenance shops for the end-product 108, the EOL product collector and / or sorter 110, the recycler 112 or combinations thereof. The participant(s) may include various participant(s) of the material chain or loop not shown in FIG. 1.

[0109] The participant(s) 102 to 112 of the material loop 130 may be connected through material flow(s) 136. The loop material flow 136 may correspond to the flow of product or material from one participant 102 to 112 of the material 24 loop to the downstream participant 102 to 1 12 of the material loop 130. The loop material flow 136 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 supply chain product from one participant 102 to 112 to another downstream participant 102 to 1 12. The means of transportation may include pipes, containers, barrels, packages or the like. The material flow 204 may be a one-sided flow, such as a directional loop material flow 136. The loop material flow 136 may flow from the up-stream participant 102 to 112 to the downstream participant 102 to 112 of the material loop 130, such as the loop material flow 136 from the recycler 112 to the chemical product producer 102. The material flow may include reverse loop material flow 136 from the downstream participant 102 to 1 12 to the upstream participant 102 to 112 of the material loop 130. For example, material may loop material flow 136 from the chemical product producer 102 to the recycler 112, e.g. when the recycled product or recyclate does not adhere to quality specifications and needs further treatment.

[0110] The loop material flow 136 may be associated with raw materials used to produce the material or chemical product, such as virgin raw material(s). Instead of or in addition to virgin raw material(s) the loop material flow 136 may include recycled material(s). 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).

[0111] The material loop 130 may be based on the example of feedstocks for chemical production and their circular loops. The chemical production may produce one or more chemical products (e.g. supply chain products) from one or more materials (e.g. input materials) entering the chemical production. The supply chain product may be an intermediate chemical product. The supply chain product may be a chemical product. Feedstocks for chemical production may include any type of feedstock entering chemical productions. The feedstock may include raw materials used to produce the chemical product, such as virgin raw material(s). The feedstock may include fossil and / or non-fossil feedstock. Examples of fossil feedstock include crude oil, naphtha, methane or the like. Examples of non-fossil feedstock include recycled, bio-based or renewable feedstock. Examples of recycled feedstock include pyrolysis oil, pyrolysis gas, mechanically recycled polymer material or chemically recycled polymer material. Examples of biobased or renewable feedstock include bio-based pyrolysis oil, bio-based pyrolysis gas, bio-based synthesis gas, bio-based hydrogen, bio-based naphtha, bio-based methane, bio-based ethane, bio-based propane, bio-based chemicals, renewable pyrolysis oil, renewable pyrolysis gas, renewable synthesis gas, renewable hydrogen, renewable naphtha, renewable methane, renewable ethane, renewable propane or renewable chemicals or any combinations thereof.

[0112] The chemical product may be produced by the chemical product producer 102 from one or more materials / feedstocks. Materials may include recycled material, such as pyrolysis oil, supplied by recycler 1 12 and / or virgin material(s) supplied by virgin material producer 138. The produced chemical product may be provided to a 231459

[0113] 25 chemical product user 104. The chemical product user 104 may use the received chemical product(s) to produce one or more discrete products, such as tires. The discrete product(s) may be provided to an end-product producer 106. The end-product producer may produce one or more end-product(s), such as vehicles, from discrete product(s) received from chemical product user 104. The end-product may be provided to an end-product user 108. Endproduct user 108 may use the end-product. At the end-of-life of the end-product or part(s) thereof, such as the tires, the end-product or parts thereof may be disposed by the end-product user 108. The disposed end-product or parts thereof may be provided to the waste collector and / or sorter 110. The waste end-product or parts thereof may be collected by EOL product collector / sorter 110. The collected waste end-product or parts thereof may be sorted by EOL product collector / sorter 110. The collected waste end-product or parts thereof may be provided to a sorter for sorting fractions of the end-products or parts thereof, such as tires, to be recycled. The sorted fractions may be provided to a recycler for recycling the fraction(s), such as tires. The recycled material produced by recycler 112 may be provided to the chemical product producer 102 for producing new chemical products thus closing the material loop 130. The loop material flow 136 may close the loop between the material participants.

[0114] The material participants may include the chemical product producer 102, chemical product user 104, end-product producer 106, end-product user 108, such as the retailer or end-product consumer, EOL product collector / sorter 1 10, recycler 112 and validation service 114. Validation service 114 may be configured to validate material data received from recycler 112 and to generate certificate of analysis data and optionally a digital credential.

[0115] In addition to the connection through loop material flow 136 the material participants 102 to 112 of the circular material loop 130 may be connected through data flow 132 via the decentral network 134. The decentral network 134 may include one or more decentral network nodes 128 to 126 associated with material participants 102 to 1 12 of the material loop 130. In a decentralized or decentral network 134, the decentral network nodes 128 to 126, 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 134 may include decentral and central network nodes. The decentral network 134 may include central network nodes that may control and / or monitor the decentral network nodes 128 to 126. For example, central network node(s) may provide authentication information, which allow at least two decentral network nodes 128 to 126 to establish a peer-to-peer communication channel between respective decentral network nodes 128 to 126.

[0116] The network nodes 128 to 126 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 decentral network nodes 128 to 126 may be 231459

[0117] 26 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 Blue-tooth. The decentral network nodes 128 to 126 may be configured to perform peer-to-peer data transactions, illustrated by the arrows 132 indicating data flow.

[0118] The decentral network nodes 128 to 126 may be configured as data consuming and / or providing network nodes. The decentral network nodes 128 to 126 may be configured to provide data to other network node(s) of the decentral network 134 and / or to consume data from other nodes of the decentral network 134. For instance, the decentral network node 1 16 associated with the chemical product producer 102 may be configured to provide machine fluid data and / or monitoring data associated with properties of the machine fluid and / or the used machine fluid to downstream participants such as the end-product user 108, or the recycler 112. Further for instance, the decentral network node 1128 to 126 associated with the EOL product collector / sorter 1 10 or the recycler 1 12 may be configured to access data from the network node 128 to 126 associated with upstream participants such as the chemical product producer 102.

[0119] The decentral network node(s) 116 to 128 may be configured as data consuming and / or providing network nodes. The decentral network node(s) 1 16 to 128 may comprise computer-executable instructions configured to provide, consume and / or process data, such as data associated with the materials produced or processed within the circular material loop 130. The network node(s) may run a data providing service configured to provide data to another decentral network node 116 to 128 of the decentral network 134. The decentral network node(s) 116 to 128 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 material loop 130. The decentral network node(s) 116 to 128 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 130. 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 130. The data owner may be the respective participant 102 to 112 of the circular loop 130, the data generating node 116 to 128 is associated with. The data generating node 116 to 128 may have access to the dedicated data storage(s). Access to data associated with material or product produced or processed within the circular loop 130 may hence be under control of the data owner the respective decentral network node 116 to 128 is associated with. This allows to retain full control over data associated with material or product produced or processed within the circular loop 130 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 130 under controlled conditions, for example by using appropriate protocols including authorization and authentication mechanisms or schemes to establish peer-to-peer communication. 231459

[0120] 27

[0121] The decentral network node 116 to 128 configured to consume data may comprise computer-executable instructions for accessing and / or processing data within the decentral network decentral network 134, such as data associated with material produced or processed within the circular loop 130 and provided by a decentral data providing network node 1 16 to 128. The decentral data consuming network node 116 to 128 may be controlled or owned by or associated with any upstream or downstream participant of the circular material loop 130. For instance, the decentral data consuming network node 116 may be associated with chemical product producer 102 to allow access to material data associated with the recycled material supplied by recycler 112 through the decentral data providing network node 126 associated with the recycler 112.

[0122] The decentral network 134 may include further decentral network nodes. The further decentral network nodes may not be associated with further participants of the circular loop 130. The further nodes may be decentral infrastructure service nodes (not shown). The decentral infrastructure service nodes may provide services for decentral participant nodes 128 to 126, such as verifying the identity of the decentral network participant nodes 116 to 128 prior to performing a data exchange. The decentral network participant node(s) 116 to 128 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 Tokens). This way the decentral network node(s) 128 to 126 may be associated or connected to a unique identifier embedded in a X.509 certificate that identifies the respective decentral network node(s) 116 to 126. 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).

[0123] The material or product produced by participant(s) 102 to 112 of the circular loop 130 may be associated with material or product data associated with properties of the material or product produced by participant(s) 102 to 112 of the circular loop 130. The material or product data may be provided for access by the decentral data providing network node 1 16 to 128 associated with the material or product producer. Access to the material or product data may be controlled by the decentral data providing network node 116 to 128. The material or product data may be accessed by decentral data consuming network node(s) 1 16 to 128 associated with further participants 102 to 112 of the material loop 130, such as any downstream participant 102 to 112.

[0124] The data flows 132 between decentral network nodes 116 to 128 may be directly or indirectly associated with the loop material flows 136 between the participants 102 to 1 12 of the material loop 130. For instance, the data flow 231459

[0125] 28

[0126] 132 may be directly associated with the loop material flow 136 if data associated with a chemical product provided from the chemical product producer 102 to the chemical product user 104 is accessed by a decentral data consuming network node 1 18 associated with said chemical product user 104. For instance, the data flow 132 may be indirectly associated with the loop material flows 136, if data associated with a chemical product produced by chemical product producer 102 is accessed by a decentral data consuming network node 126 associated with recycler 112.

[0127] Data transactions between decentral network nodes 1 16 to 128 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 decentral 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 134. 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. The decentral identifier(s) may be associated with digital credential(s) generated upon validating the material data. The decentral identifier may be included in an access element associated with the material or product.

[0128] In particular, the generation of access elements associated with digital credentials allows for reliable, secure and simple validation of chemical and / or physical properties of input material(s) entering a chemical production, hence improving the environmental impact of the circular material loop 130 by allowing to use recycled material as input material in chemical production without a negative impact on the operation of the chemical production.

[0129] FIG. 2A schematically illustrates example systems for validating material data for monitoring one or more properties of a material critical for producing one or more products having product target properties in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The material may include one or more material type such as, but not limited to, natural materials and derivatives such as wood, stone, metals, clay, synthetic materials and derivatives such as plastics, composites, rubber, renewable materials and derivatives such as natural fibers, bioplastics, bio-based materials and derivatives such as bio-composites, plant-based materials, smart materials such as shape memory allows, piezoelectric materials, thermochromic materials, photochromic materials, advanced materials such as nanomaterials, ceramics. The material may be produced by a production from one or more input(s) entering the production. Input(s) may include virgin material, waste material, or components thereof. Input(s) may include waste fraction(s) produced by sorters. Input(s) may include waste tires and / or waste plastic fraction(s).

[0130] The system may include a production 204. The production 204 may be associated with a decentral network participant, for instance, a supply chain product producer such as end-product producer 106. For producing one or more material(s) 206, different input(s) 202 (also called input material(s) 202 hereinafter) may be provided as 231459

[0131] 29 physical inputs from material providers or suppliers. The physical inputs provided to the production 204 may include, for example, raw material(s), waste material(s) including one or more waste fraction(s). The input material 202 may be fed into the production 204 at any entry point. The input material 202 may be fed into the production 204 at the start of the production 204. The input materials may be considered input for the production 204.

[0132] The production 204 may include multiple production steps. The production steps included in the production 204 may be defined by the system boundary 216 of the production 204. The system boundary 216 may be defined by location or control over production processes. The system boundary 216 may be defined by the site of the production 204. The system boundary may be defined by production processes controlled by one entity or multiple entities jointly. The system boundary may be defined by value chain with staggered production processes to an end-product, which may be controlled by multiple entities separately.

[0133] The production 204 may convert inbound material 202 to one or more material(s) 206 that exit the production 204. The production may include at least one chemical reaction or any other processing step, such as physical processing. The chemical reaction may result in a mixture of different chemical product(s). Chemical reactions may therefore be characterized by a one-to-many or many-to-many relationship between starting materials and resulting reaction products. This is in contrast to discrete manufacturing, where a many-to-one relationship between parts / components and assemblies is existing, e.g., the result of a discrete manufacturing step is a concrete and predictable assembly. Such mixtures typically require separation of the different chemical products contained in said mixture. Separation may include distillation, washing, extraction, crystallization and recrystallization. The resulting mixture may contain desired material(s) 206 to be supplied to upstream participants of the supply chain product ecosystem, such as chemical product producer 102. The resulting mixture may contain waste chemical product(s), e.g., chemical product(s) which cannot be used any further and which need to be disposed, for example by burning. Waste chemical products may be produced from undesired chemical side reactions.

[0134] The production 204 may comprise a measurement service measurement service 208. Sample(s) 218 of the material(s) 206 produced by production 204 may be provided to the measurement service 208. The sample 218 may be representative of the produced material(s) 206. The measurement service 208 may be configured to gather at least one chemical and / or physical property of the sample 218. The measurement service 208 or measurement unit may include one or more sensor(s). The sensor(s) may be configured to measure at least one chemical and / or physical property of the material(s) 206 produced by the production 204. The sensor(s) may be configured to collect data related to the at least one chemical and / or physical property of the material(s) 206. Sensor(s) may include one or more analytical instruments such as analysis equipment, spectrometer and / or calorimeters. The chemical and / or physical properties may then be determined from such collected data. Measurement service 208 may be configured to determine the at least one chemical and / or physical property from the collected data. Measurement service 208 231459

[0135] 30 may be configured to generate material data including the measured or determined property / properties. The material data may further include a digital identifier associated with the material(s) 206. The digital identifier may be a unique identifier, such as a batch number, a LOT number or a combination thereof. The material data may further include digital identifier(s) associated with sample(s) 218 of the material(s) 206. This may allow to further link the material data to respective sample(s) 218.

[0136] Measurement service 208 may be coupled via a communication interface to operating system 230. Measurement service 208 may be configured to provide the generated material data to a database, such as database 210. Database 210 may be part of the operating system 230 of the production 204. The database 210 may further include entity data associated with measurement service 208. The operating system 230 may monitor and / or control the production 204 based on operating parameters associated with the different processes performed by the production 204. One process step monitored and / or controlled may be the feed of inbound materials 202 or the release of produced material(s) 206. Another process step monitored and / or controlled may be the separation of chemical product(s) contained in mixtures resulting from chemical reactions performed within the production 204. Another process step monitored and / or controlled may be the validation of material data associated with produced material(s) 206. The operating system 230 may include a validation service 114. The validation service 114 may be configured to perform a validation method. The validation service 114 may include validation engine 220. Validation engine 220 may be configured to validate material data stored in database 210 using target material property data stored in database 212. Upon successful validation of the material data, the validation service 114 may be configured to generate a digital asset including digital identifier(s) associated with the produced material 206 associated with the material and validated property data. The validation service 1 14 may be configured to store the generated digital asset in a database, such as database 214. The validation service 114 may be configured to generate digital credential(s) by validating received digital asset(s). The validation service 114 may provide the generated digital credential(s). The validation service 1 14 may be configured to provide the generated digital asset to a further validation service (not shown) configured to generate digital credential(s) by validating received digital asset(s). The further validation service may provide the generated digital credential(s) to validation service 114. The validation service 114 may be configured to store the received digital credential(s) in database 214.

[0137] The validation service 1 14 may also include a validation rule(s) database 222 storing one or more validation rule(s) for validating the material data. The one or more validation rule(s) may systema criteria for determining whether a given data meets specific required validation scores. The one or more validation rule(s) may include a key-value pair. Key-value pair may be a data structure including of two or more linked elements such as one or more key(s), which may serve as unique identifier(s) and one or more value(s), which represent data associated with the key(s). An example of a key-value pair may for instance include a given property of the material such as density, wherein density is the key and the density unit is the value, for example, 1.2 g / cm3. The key-value pair may be used for 31 mapping material data and target property data, for instance, mapping of corresponding keys in data structure of material data and target material property data. The one or more validation rule(s) may include the mapping of keys between material data and target material property data structures, as well as the evaluation of corresponding values associated with these keys. Validation rule(s) may include mapping for specific conditions, such as whether values fall within defined ranges or meet specified thresholds. For instance, a validation rule may establish that tensile strength of a material must be greater than a certain threshold to fulfill safety requirements. Additionally, validation rules can include Boolean values that may indicate compliance with certain criteria, such as whether a material is tox-free or meets environmental standards. Tox-free may refer to a condition or status of a material, product, or environment that is free from toxic substances or harmful chemicals.

[0138] The target material property data may be generated by the downstream participant of the supply chain product ecosystem processing the material produced by the material producer (e.g. the associated upstream participant of the supply chain product ecosystem). The target material property data may be provided by the entity processing the material. The target material property data may be provided by the entity generating the material data. The target material property data may be provided by the entity producing the material. The target material property data may be provided by the material consumer, for example, material consumer 232. The target material property data may be provided by the material processor. The target material property data may be provided by entity operating the production 204.

[0139] FIG. 2B depicts the validation service 114 as part of a decentral network, such as decentral network 134. The operating system 230 may include the material data. The material data may be provided via a data providing service, such as node 126A, associated with the entity operating production 204 to validation service 114. The data providing service may be associated with the operating system 230 of the production 204. Validation service 114 may be associated with a data consuming service, such as node 114B, configured to consume material data received from data providing nodes, such as node 126A. Validation service 114 may further be associated with a data providing service, such as node validation service 114A, configured to provide generated digital asset(s) and / or associated digital credential(s) via the decentral network to a data consuming service, such as node 126B, associated with the entity operating production 204. The data consuming service may be associated with the operating system 230 of production 204.

[0140] In one embodiment, the measurement service 208 may be an external service measurement service 208 located outside of the system boundary 216 of the production 204. The measurement service 208 may receive physical samples of material(s) 206 produced by production 204. Measurement service 208 may be configured to measure physical and / or chemical property data of the sample(s) using one or more sensor(s). Additionally or alternatively, measurement service 208 may be configured to determine physical and / or chemical property data of the sample(s) 32 from data acquired by sensor(s). Measurement service 208 may be configured to store the measured and / or determined physical and / or chemical property data of the sample(s) in database 224. Measurement service 208 may be associated with a data providing service, such as node 228. Data providing service 228 may be configured to provide property data stored in database 224 and entity data stored in database 226 as material data to validation service 114. The material property data and / or the entity data may be signed prior to providing such data via the decentral network to validation service 114. Signature may be performed using a private key associated with the measurement service 208. Validation service 114 may be configured to validate the received material data and to provide generated digital asset(s) and / or associated digital certification(s) via the decentral network to the entity producing the material. The digital asset and / or associated digital credentials may be provided to a data consuming 120 associated to the material consumer 232. The material consumer node may, for example but not limited to, be end-product producer 106, chemical product producer 102, and / or chemical product user 104.

[0141] FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are mere examples concerning the location of the validation service and / or the measurement service. The validation service may, for instance, also be located within the operating system associated with the downstream production consuming material(s) 206 (not depicted).

[0142] Validating the material data associated with material(s) 206 may ensure that the chemical and / or physical properties associated with the material(s) 206 match target material properties required by downstream participants of the material loop to use such material(s) 206 as feedstock within a production. Generation of a digital asset linked to the respective produced material(s) 206 and including validated property data may allow to provide such validated property data digitally when providing the material physically, allowing the consumer of the material to digitally access the validated property data and to use the validated property data to control and / or monitor material critical for producing one or more product(s) having target product properties, the one or more product being produce from the material, the supply chain product. The one or more product(s) having target product properties are supply chain product(s) intended to meet specific characteristics or standards that are deemed desirable or required for its intended use. These properties can include physical, chemical, mechanical, or aesthetic attributes that define how the supply chain product performs, looks, and interacts with other materials or environments. Target product properties are often established based on technical requirements, market demands, regulatory standards, customer requirements, or industry best practices. Such target properties may, for example, include mechanical properties such as tensile strength and hardness, physical properties such as density and conductivity, chemical properties such as corrosion resistance and pH stability, performance properties such as durability and functionality, and / or aesthetic properties associated to the chemical and / or physical properties such as color and surface texture. The digital credential(s) may serve to certify that the material property data was acquired and / or determined in a trustworthy and reliable manner, hence allowing downstream participants of the material loop to trust in the material property data included in the digital asset and to control their industrial operations based on such property data 231459

[0143] 33 included in the digital asset. By validating the material property data associated with the material, it may be ensured that such property data fulfils target material property data required by downstream participants (e.g. possesses a sufficient quality) to process such material, allowing to avoid costly and time-consuming analysis of materials by such downstream participants to ensure that the material property data of material fulfils target material property data required for further processing. This allows to operate industrial processes involving the use of materials more efficiently, even when using materials prone to fluctuating material composition based on the use of fluctuating input material composition used to prepare the material. In addition, this allows to use input material prone to fluctuating material composition as feedstock while ensuring that such input material can be processed within the production without a negative influence on the operations performed within the production and / or the quality of products produced from such material.

[0144] FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart of an example of a method for validating material data associated with a material to be used for the production of one or more product(s) having target product properties in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The material may include recycled material, renewable material or bio-based material. The material may include recycled content, renewable content and / or bio-based content. The recycled material may include pyrolysis oil. The material may be produced by a production from one or more input(s) entering the production. Input(s) may include waste material, such as end-of-life material or components thereof. Input(s) may include waste fraction(s) produced by sorters. Input(s) may include waste tires and / or waste plastic fraction(s).

[0145] FIG. 3 depicts a method for validating material data associated with the material may be provided (see block 302). The material data may include digital identifier(s) associated with the material data, and property data. The material data may further include data related to an industrial operation the material is to be processed or used within. The industrial operation may be associated with a downstream participant using the material as input material to produce one or more supply chain products. The data related to an industrial operation may include an industrial operation identifier, a downstream participant identifier or a combination thereof. Such data may allow to determine appropriate target material property data upon validation of the provided material data. The material property data may include chemical and / or physical property data associated with the material. The material property data may include at least one measured chemical and / or physical property of the material and / or at least one physical and / or chemical property of the material determined from measured data. The chemical and / or physical property / properties may be determined and / or measured by a measurement service, such as measurement service. The material property data may, for example, include halogen content data, such as chlorine content data, data related to the content(s) of contaminant(s), such as Hg, Fe, Si, Zn, V and / or N content data, boiling point data, distillation data, such as a distillation range, ash content data, flash point data, pour point data, auto-ignition temperature data, density data, calorific data, such as calorific value(s), biogenic content data, data related to an visual evaluation result of the material and / or data related to the corrosiveness of the material. The respective data may include a single value or a range. The material property data may include certificate of analysis data. The certificate of analysis data may include chemical and / or physical property data associated with the material as previously described. The certificate of analysis data may be generated by the producer of the material.

[0146] The material data may be generated and signed by the entity generating said data using a private key associated with said entity or a representative thereof. The material data may be provided from a database storing such data. For instance, validation service 114 may receive an indication or request to validate material data. The indication or request may include digital identifier(s) associated with the material. The digital identifier(s) may be used by validation service 1 14 to gather material data associated with such digital identifier(s) from a database storing such material data. Gathering may include mapping the digital identifier(s) included in the received request or indication to digital identifier(s) included in the database and gathering material data associated with a digital identifier(s) matching the digital identifier(s) included in the received request or indication. The material data may be provided by a user, for example by sending material data to an API of the validation service 1 14.

[0147] Target material property data may be provided (see block 304). The target material property data may be generated by the downstream participant of the supply chain product ecosystem processing the material produced by the material producer (e.g. the associated upstream participant of the supply chain product ecosystem). The target material property data may be provided by the entity processing the material. The target material property data may be provided by the entity generating the material data. The target material property data may be provided by the entity producing the material. The target material property data may include industrial process data, material type data and target chemical and / or physical property / ies: The target material property data may further include data associated with the entity providing the target chemical and / or physical property data. The target material property data per material or material type may include target material property data critical for one or more subsequent processing step(s) of the material by one or more downstream participant(s) of the supply chain product ecosystem. Target material property data critical for subsequent processing step(s) may refer to property data which impedes at least one subsequent processing steps and / or at least one plant performing a subsequent processing step and / or the quality of the supply chain product resulting from at least one subsequent processing step. Target material property data critical for subsequent processing step(s) may relate to the subsequent processing and / or the use of the supply chain product(s) obtained from such processing step(s). Critical property data associated with the material may relate to the further processing of such material, for example, a product associated with a downstream participant. Critical property data associated with the material may include, but not limited to, mechanical property data such as tensile strength, yield strength, thermal property data such as thermal conductivity, melting point, chemical property data such as corrosion resistance, pH stability, electrical property data such as electrical conductivity, dielectric strength, physical property data such as density, porosity, data associated with the content of contaminants (such as Hg, Fe, Si, Zn, V, N), boiling point data, distillation range data, ash content data, flash 231459

[0148] 35 point data, pour point data, auto-ignition temperature data, data associated with a visual evaluation of the material, density data, calorific data and / or data indicating the corrosiveness and / or related to corrosion resistance. The entity(ies) may be defined using the digital identifier uniquely identifying such entity(ies). For instance, the name of the entity, the address of the entity, an entity ID or a combination thereof may be used to define an entity. This allows to define trustworthy entities, e.g. entities known to provide reliable and trustworthy material data. Data associated to the entity(ies) may be included in the digital asset, and / or digital credential(s). The required certificate(s) may be defined using digital identifier(s) uniquely identifying such certificate(s). For instance, the name of the certificate, the certification authority, validity of the certificate or a combination thereof may be included in the digital asset and / or digital credential(s).

[0149] The provided material property data may be validated (see block 306). Validation may include selecting target material property data based on the provided material data. Target material property data may be selected from the provided target material property data based on the provided material data by matching data related to the industrial operation included in the material data to industrial operation data included in the provided target material property data. This may allow to select appropriate target material property data to be used for validation from the provided target material property data, hence ensuring a reliable and correct validation result. Selection of appropriate target material property data from a plurality of target material property data allows to validate material data associated with materials used as production input within a variety of different industrial operations requiring different target properties of such materials.

[0150] The material property data is validated if said property is included in the provided target material property data of the material. Validation may include matching the provided material property data to the target material property data. The provided material property data may be valid or validated if said data matches the target material property data. The validation may be performed per property contained in the provided material property data. For instance, each data point included in the provided material property data may be matched or compared to the respective data point included in the target material property data. Validation allows to determine whether the provided material property data fulfils target material property data, e.g., fulfils specification(s) with respect the material defined by a consumer of said material, such as a downstream participant consuming the material produced by a material producer (e.g. the respective upstream participant).

[0151] Validation may further include comparing the provided material data with previously provided material data being associated with the same material type. This allows to determine whether the provided material data appears to be plausible and avoids that the same material data can be provided for different materials or that material data for the same material is provided twice. This ensures that generation of the digital asset and associated credential(s) is not based on the same material data for different batches of a material, since such batches normally vary in their 231459

[0152] 36 chemical and / or physical properties due to production conditions and properties of used production input(s). In addition, this avoids that the digital asset and / or associated digital credential(s) are repeatedly generated for the same material data. The previously provided material data may be stored in a data storage. The previously provided material data may be interrelated with the digital identifier(s) and / or the material type.

[0153] It may be determined whether the material property data was validated, e.g., was successfully validated.

[0154] If the material property data is validated, a digital asset including the digital identifier(s) and the validated property data and / or digital credential(s) may be generated (see block 310). The digital credential(s) may be associated with digital asset(s) associated with the material via the digital material identifier(s). For instance, the digital asset and the digital credential(s) may include digital material identifier(s) associated with the material. The digital credential(s) may include or correspond to one or more verifiable credential(s).

[0155] If the provided material data is not validated, e.g., if the provided property material data - e.g., the provided material property data does not match the provided respective target material property data), a communication that no validation is possible is generated (see block 314). No digital credential(s) may be generated. The digital asset may further include data indicating target material property data. The data indicating that no validation of material property data is possible may also be generated. Such a data may include respective target material property data. This may allow a comparison between the respective property data and the target material property data. Data indicating that no validation of material property data is possible may trigger adjustment of composition of the material, for example, by mixing the material with other batches of the same material such that the one or more property of the material is adjusted to fulfil the requirements of the target material property data. Hence, a new and / or adjusted material property data may be generated. Consequently, the method may comprise validating the new and / or adjusted material property data. The physical and / or chemical properties of the produced new and / or adjusted material and / or a batch of it may be validated and a digital asset and / or digital credential(s) may be generated and linked via a digital material identifier to the produced new and / or adjusted material and / or batch upon successful validation.

[0156] The generated digital asset and / or the digital credential(s) may be provided (see block 312). The generated digital assets and / or the digital credential(s) may be provided to the entity producing the material, for example, via a decentral network. The generated digital assets may be provided to the entity consuming the material, for example, via a decentral network.

[0157] By validating the material data, controlling of produced material to ensure that specification of the material required by the material consumer is executed. Put differently, this allows to produce a batch of material having chemical 231459

[0158] 37 and / or physical properties fulfilling the target material properties and hence avoids waste materials which cannot be processed and must be disposed. This is particularly advantageous, as it allows a more efficient use of produced materials within a value chain, as the material producer can also identify previously unknown material consumer(s) via certification. Moreover, it is also advantageous, as it permits avoidance of waste due to incorrect batch production, as out-of-spec material for one material consumer may be in specification for another material consumer.

[0159] By validating the material data, it allows material consumer(s) to ensure that the supply chain products produced meet the given specifications, that is, that products having the one or more target product properties are produced. Moreover, it permits ensuring that production is not negatively affected by input materials with unsuitable properties, e.g., due to system failures, increased maintenance, products that are out of specification.

[0160] By generating a digital asset upon validation of the material data and providing such digital asset linked via the digital material identifier to the material, the digital asset or parts thereof may be gathered by a downstream participant upon entry of the material to a production of the downstream participant of the material loop to determine compliance of properties of the received material with target chemical and / or physical properties defined for the material or material type by the downstream participant operating such production. The digital asset or parts thereof may be accessed via a decentral network by the recipient of the material using access element(s) stored in a decentral registry and being associated with said digital asset or parts thereof. The decentral provision of the digital asset or parts thereof via the access element allows to control access to such digital asset or parts thereof by the data owner of the digital asset, hence ensuring transfer of the digital asset or parts thereof in a controlled and secure manner.

[0161] By generating digital credential(s), a proof may be provided which certifies that the material property data included in the digital asset fulfils given target material property data and was determined by a trustworthy entity (e.g. an entity holding predefined or target certification(s)), hence allowing downstream participants of the material loop to trust in the chemical and / or physical property data included in the associated digital asset and to control their industrial operations based on such data included in the digital asset without having to perform any further analysis of the properties of the received material.

[0162] FIG. 4 depicts a digital asset 402 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The digital asset may correspond to a dataset including one or more data points. The digital asset may be integrated in another dataset, in particular included or referenced in a digital product passport belonging to the material. The digital asset may include one or more key-value pair(s). The digital asset may include structured data. The digital asset may include the digital identifier(s) included in the material data, such as a material identifier 404 and a sample identifier. The digital identifier included in the digital asset may be linked with the physical entity of the material. The digital identifier 231459

[0163] 38 included in the digital asset may be associated with the physical entity of the material. The digital identifier may be included in, associated with or related to an identifier element physically attached to the material. This may allow to link the digital asset to the physical entity of the material. The digital identifier included in the digital asset may include or be associated with decentral identifier(s). This may allow to provide the digital asset via a decentral network to downstream participants consuming the material associated with the digital asset in a secure and controlled manner. The digital asset may further include data associated with the entity measuring and / or determining chemical and / or physical properties. The digital asset may include metadata, such as issuance data. The digital asset may further include one or more validated chemical and / or physical property / ies. The digital asset may further include one or more test method(s) used to determine the validated chemical and / or physical properties. The digital asset may be signed with a private key of the entity generating the digital asset, such as validation service 114. The signature data may be included in the digital asset as proof data. The proof data may contain data related to the public key linked to the private key used to generate the signature. This may allow the entity receiving the digital asset to verify the signature data included in the digital asset and hence the authenticity of the signing party (e.g. the party generating the digital asset).

[0164] FIG. 5A depicts a digital credential 502 including in a digital asset according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The digital credential 502 may include digital credential data 504, claim(s) about a subject 508 and proof data 510. The subject may be the material the digital credential is associated with. Claim(s) may correspond to certifications or assertions concerning the validation of provided material property data with respect to target material property data. The proof data 510 may contain a signature value generated using the private key associated with the issuer of the digital credential. The signature value may be cryptographically verified using the public key associated with said private key. The digital credential data 504 may include key-value pairs signifying a credential identifier, a credential type, the credential issuer, the issuance date and the expiration date. The claim(s) about the subject 506 (e.g. the credentialsubject property in the JSON data structure illustrated in FIG. 5B) may include keyvalue pairs signifying the credential subject (e.g. the material via digital identifier(s) included in the provided material data) and one or more claim(s) made about the credential subject. The claim(s) may signify that material data been successfully validated against target data, e.g. the material data fulfils target material property data. The claim(s) may signify the validated property data and the target material property data. An example of a digital credential in JSON data structure is depicted in FIG. 5C.

[0165] One or more decentral identifier(s) associated with the material may be provided. The decentral identifier(s) may be provided by decentral ID provider (no depict) of an access element generator. Decentral ID provider may be configured to generate and provide one or more decentral identifier(s) associated with the material and the digital asset. Decentral ID provider may be configured to generate and provide one or more decentral identifier(s) associated with the material and digital credential(s). The decentral identifier(s) may comprise unique identifier(s) 231459

[0166] 39 uniquely associated with the producer of the material and the material. The decentral identifier may include one or more Universally Unique Identifier(s) (UUID(s)) or one or more Digital Identifier(s) (DID(s)). The decentral identifier may include authentication information. Via the decentral identifier and its unique association with the with the producer of the material and the material, access to digital asset(s) and associated digital credential(s) may be controlled by the producer of the material.

[0167] FIG. 6A illustrates an example system for monitoring one or more substance(s) critical for producing product(s) from one or more input materials provided to a production in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the one or mor product(s) having target product properties. The input materials may be produced as material(s) 206 by a production. The input material(s) may be recycled material(s). The input material(s) may be associated with digital asset(s) and optionally digital credential(s) relating to the one or more properties critical for producing product(s) from such input material(s) and having the target product properties.

[0168] A production 204 may produce one or more material(s) 206 from one or more production input(s) 202. The production 204 may be associated with a recycler 112. The production 204 may produce the material(s) 206. Material data associated with the produced material(s) 206 may be generated. The generated material data may be provided to validation service 114 configured to validate received material data. Validation service 114 may validate the received material data.

[0169] Validation service 114 may be part of the operating system of production 204. Validation service 114 may be associated with the production 204. Upon successful validation of the received material data, validation service 1 14 may provide the generated digital asset including digital identifier(s) associated with the material and at least a part of the validated material data and generated associated digital credential(s) to access element generator 602. Upon partial validation (e.g. upon validation of the property data only), validation service 114 may provide the generated digital asset to access element generator 602.

[0170] Access element generator 602 may be associated with production 204. Access element generator 602 may be part of an operating system of production 204. Access element generator 602 may be coupled to or associated with an operating system of the production 204. Access element generator 602 may be configured to generate access element(s) associated with digital asset(s) and digital credential(s). Examples of access elements generated by access element generator 602.

[0171] Data related to the production of the input material may be collected. Data related to the production of the input material may be collected by production data collector 604 of access element generator 602. Data associated with the production of the material may include digital asset(s) and optionally associated digital credential(s) received 231459

[0172] 40 from validation service 114. The digital asset(s) and optionally associated digital credential(s) may be received via decentral network 134. The digital asset(s) may be received via decentral network 134. Data associated with the production of the material may include digital material identifier(s), production data associated with the material 206, emission data associated with the material 206, material declaration data, material safety data, recyclate content data associated with the recyclate content of the material 206, biobased content data associated with the biobased content of the material 206, renewable content data associated with the renewable content of the material 206 or combinations thereof. Production data may relate to the production of the material 206. Production data may include monitoring and / or control data associated with the production of the material 206. Production data may be collected by one or more sensor(s). Production data may be collected prior, upon and / or after production of the product 206.

[0173] One or more decentral identifier(s) associated with the material may be provided. The decentral identifier(s) may be provided by decentral ID provider 606 of access element generator 602. Decentral ID provider 606 may be configured to generate and provide one or more decentral identifier(s) associated with the material and the digital asset. Decentral ID provider 606 may be configured to generate and provide one or more decentral identifier(s) associated with the material and digital credential(s). The decentral identifier(s) may comprise unique identifier(s) uniquely associated with the producer of the material and the material. The decentral identifier may include one or more Universally Unique Identifier(s) (UUID(s)) or one or more Digital Identifier(s) (DID(s)). The decentral identifier may include authentication information. Via the decentral identifier and its unique association with the with the producer of the material and the material, access to digital asset(s) and associated digital credential(s) may be controlled by the producer of the material.

[0174] Decentral ID provider 606 may be configured to gather existing decentral digital twin identifier(s) associated with a digital twin of the material. The digital twin of the material may be a digital representation of a physical entity of the material with a defined semantic description of said physical entity of the material. The digital twin of the physical entity of the material is hence a digital version of said physical entity. Once created, the digital twin can be used to represent the physical entity of the material in a digital representation of a real-world system. The digital twin may be uniquely linked to the physical material via at least the decentral digital twin identifier. The digital twin may be created such that it is identical in form and behavior of the corresponding material. Additionally, the digital twin may mirror the properties of the material during its lifetime. For example, sensors may capture real-time (or near realtime) data, such as transport data or use data, from the physical material to relay it back to a remote digital twin. The digital twin may then be updated to maintain its correspondence to the physical entity of the material. Hence, the digital twin may at any time represent the current state of the physical entity of the material. The digital twin may contain a decentral digital twin identifier. The decentral digital twin identifier may be associated with a physical entity of the material the digital twin is associated with. The decentral digital twin identifier may be associated with the physical entity of the material the digital twin is generated for. The decentral digital twin identifier may be associated 231459

[0175] 41 with decentral identifiers of production input(s) used to produce the material. The decentral digital twin identifier may or may be assigned to a physical identifier connected to the material. The physical identifier may be any identifier for the produced material, such as a batch number and / or a LOT number. The physical identifier may comprise a passive or active element, e.g. bar code, QR-code, RFID-tag, but is not limited thereto. The physical identifier may include markers embedded in materials or similar physical arrangement that allows to digitally identify the material. The digital twin may further contain a digital material identifier. The digital twin may contain material data. The material data may include at least a part of the data associated with the production. The material data may include the digital asset and / or digital credential(s). The digital twin may include one or more data set(s). The data set(s) may signify part of the material data. Data set(s) may include digital asset(s) provided by validation service 114. Data set(s) may include digital credential(s) provided by validation service 1 14.

[0176] Access data relating to the digital asset(s) and optionally associated digital credential(s) may be provided. Access data may be provided by access data generator 608 of access element generator 602. Access data generator 608 may be configured to generate access data associated with digital asset(s) and / or digital credential(s) included in the gathered data associated with the production for material(s) 206 produced by production 204. The access data may be generated per digital asset and per digital credential. The access data may include a locator or pointer to a dedicated storage address of a dedicated storage associated with or accessible by the data owner of the digital asset and digital credential(s). The access data may further include a material identifier. The material identifier may relate to or may correspond to a physical identifier physically attached to the material. For instance, the access data may include a batch number and / or a LOT number physically attached to the material. This may allow to query the decentral network for access elements based on physical identifiers physically attached to the material. The data owner may be the entity operating production 204. The data owner may be the producer of material(s) 206. The dedicated storage may be associated with or may be accessible by the data owner. The data owner may control access to the digital asset and digital credential(s) associated with the respective access data. The pointer or locator may point directly to the dedicated storage address. The pointer or locator may point to a data providing network node associated with the dedicated storage. This may increase data security since the dedicated storage address is not published to further participants of the decentral network hence avoiding the risk of direct access of the dedicated storage without access control via the decentral data providing network node. The digital representation may include one or more digital link(s) pointing to the status data. The access data may include a locator or pointer, such as am url or uri, to a dedicated storage address associated with the material producer and storing the digital asset(s) and digital credential(s).

[0177] Digital access elements including the provided decentral identifier(s) and the access data may be generated or updated. The digital access element(s) may be associated with the physical entity of the material. For instance, the digital access element(s) may include a material identifier associated with or included in a physical identifier 231459

[0178] 42 physically attached to the material. Access elements may be generated by access element generator 610 of access element generator 602. Access element generator 602 may be configured to update access elements associated with the material and stored in decentral registry 612. Updating may include adding access data generated by access data generator 608 to existing access element(s). The access data may be added by determining access element(s) associated with the material based on a mapping of the decentral digital twin identifier included in the access element and the decentral digital twin identifier associated with the respective material. An access element may be generated per data set included in the digital twin. For instance, an access element may be generated per digital asset associated with the material and per digital credential associated with the material. An access element may be generated for a plurality of data set(s) included in the digital twin of the material. For instance, an access element may be generated for a digital asset and associated digital credential(s) included in the digital twin of the material. The access element may include the provided decentral identifier(s) and the access data. The access element may relate to authorization rules that provide access to a digital asset and associated digital credential(s) depending on a participant identifier associated with a participant of the decentral network. The access element may be provided for access to the digital asset and digital credential(s) depending on the participant identifier by one or more data consuming network node(s) associated with one or more material consumer(s) executing one or more industrial operations using the material as input material. This way access to sensitive data relating to the properties of the produced material(s) 206 can be restricted to specific network nodes for which the data access is relevant, such as the chemical product producer 102.

[0179] The generated access element(s) may be provided to a decentral network for access by one or more participants of the decentral network. The access element may be provided by access element generator 610 to decentral registry 612. The decentral registry 612 may be associated with a decentral data providing network node, such as node 126B, associated with the producer of the material(s) 206. The decentral registry may be associated with or controlled by the data owner of the data associated with access elements stored in such registry. For instance, the decentral registry may be associated with or controlled by the data owner of digital assets and digital credential(s) associated with access elements stored in such registry. The data owner may be the material producer. The access element may be accessible by other participants of the decentral network, such as chemical product producer 102, via an associated decentral data consuming network node. Access to such registry may be controlled by the associated decentral data providing network node. Access element(s) stored within decentral registry 612 may be queried by decentral data consuming network node(s) via associated decentral data providing network node(s). The query may be performed based on query data. The query data may include a physical identifier physically attached to the material.

[0180] Access to access elements stored in decentral registry 612 may be controlled by a decentral data providing node, such as node 126B, associated with the decentral registry 612. For instance, decentral registry 612 may only be 231459

[0181] 43 queried by predefined decentral data consuming network node(s). Such predefined decentral data consuming network node(s) may be predefined via associated decentral participant identifier(s).

[0182] FIG. 6 B illustrates an example system for monitoring one or more substance(s) critical for producing product(s) from one or more input materials provided to a production in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the one or more product(s) having target product properties, wherein the validation service 114 may be part of a decentral network 134. Upon successful validation of the received material data, validation service 114 may provide the generated digital asset including digital identifier(s) associated with the material and at least a part of the validated material data and generated associated digital credential(s) via the decentral network 134 to access element generator 602. Upon partial validation (e.g. upon validation of the property data only), validation service 1 14 may provide the generated digital asset to access element generator 602. Validation service 1 14 may provide such data via associated decentral data providing network node 1 14A to a decentral data consuming network node 126B associated with the entity operating access element generator 602. The decentral data consuming network node 126B receiving the data may be connected to access element generator 602 and may be configured to provide such received data to access element generator 602.

[0183] FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a digital access element including DID owner data, DID document data and decentral identity infrastructure.

[0184] The decentral identifier may include a Decentralized Identifier (DID). The decentral identifier-based digital access element may in this case be a DID document 704 associated with the DID. Besides the DID document 704 serving as digital access element, FIG. 10 shows a DID owner data element 702 including decentral identifier-based owner data. Generally, the decentral identifier-based owner data may include the decentral identifier associated with a subject such as chemical product dataset(s) and may include one or more authentication mechanism(s). The decentral identifier-based owner data 702 may include owner data that is electronically owned and controlled by the DID owner. In this context electronically owned may refer to data that is stored in an owner repository or wallet. Such data may be securely stored and / or managed on an organizational server or client device. The decentral identifier-based owner data 702 may include a DID, a private key and a public key. The DID owner may own and control the DID that represents an identity associated with the DID subject, a private key and public key pair that are associated with the DID. DID may be understood as an identifier and authentication information associated with or uniquely linked to the identifier.

[0185] The DID subject may be a material used as a production input within a subsequent industrial operation. The DID subject may be a machine, a system, or a device used for producing the input material, or a collection of such machine(s), device(s) and / or system(s). The DID owner may be a supply chain participant or a manufacturer such 231459

[0186] 44 as a chemical manufacturer producing chemicals. The DID owner may be an upstream participant of chemical product producer 102 such as a supplier that supplies raw chemical products or precursors to produce the machine fluid. The DID owner may be a downstream participant of the chemical product producer 102 such as a customer that consumes chemical products to produce an intermediate product, the component, the component assembly or the end-product. The DID owner may be any participant of the supply chain product ecosystem including raw chemical product supplier, intermediate chemical products manufacturer, intermediate part manufacturer, component manufacturer, component assembly manufacturer, end-product manufacturer, end-product user, maintenance operation performer, EOL collector or recycler.

[0187] The DID may be any identifier that is associated with the DID subject and / or the DID owner. Preferably, the identifier is unique to the DID subject and / or DID owner. The identifier may be unique at least within the scope in which the DID is anticipated to be in use. The identifier may be a locally or globally unique identifier for the input material; the machine, the system, or the device used for producing the input material or the collection of such machine(s), device(s) and / or system(s); the entity producing the input material or a collection thereof.

[0188] The DID may be any identifier that is associated with the DID subject and the DID owner. Preferably, the DID is unique to the DID subject and / or DID owner. The DID may be unique at least within the scope in which the DID is anticipated to be in use. The DID may be a locally or globally unique identifier for any of the above mentioned possible DID subjects. The DID may also be a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) such as a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). Moreover, the DID may be an Internationalized Resource Identifier (I Rl). The DID may be a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) such as a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). The DID may be an Internationalized Resource Identifier (I Rl). The DID may be a random string of numbers and letters for increased security. In one embodiment, the DID may be a string of 128 letters and numbers e.g. according to the scheme did:method name: method specific-did such as did:example:ebfeb1f712ebc6f1c276e12ec21. The DID may be decentralized ID independent of a centralized, third-party management system and under the control of the DID owner.

[0189] The digital access element as DID document data DID document data 704 may be associated with the DID, i.e. the DID included in the decentral identifier-based owner data 702. Accordingly, the digital access element may include a reference to the DID, which is associated with the DID subject that is described by the DID document data 704. The DID document 704 may also include an authentication information such as the public key. The public key may be used by third-party entities that are given permission by the DID owner / subject to access information and data owned by the DID owner / subject. The public key may also be used for verifying that the DID owner, in fact, owns or controls the DID. The DID document may include authentication information, authorization information e.g. to authorize third party entities to read the DID document or some part of the DID document e.g. without giving the third party the right to prove ownership of the DID. 45

[0190] The digital access element 704 may include one or more representations that digitally link to digital twin data included in the digital twin the digital access element is associated with, e.g. by way of service endpoints. A service endpoint may include a network address at which a service operates on behalf of the DID owner. In particular, the service endpoints may refer to services, such as data providing services, of the DID owner that give access to digital twin data. Such services may include services to read or analyze data contained in the digital twin data. Data contained in the digital twin data may include chemical product declaration data, chemical product safety data, certificate of analysis data, emission data, product carbon footprint data, product environmental footprint data, chemical product specification data, product information, technical application data, production data, chemical composition data or combinations thereof.

[0191] The digital access element 704 may include further identifiers, such as decentral digital twin identifier(s) and an input material identifier(s).

[0192] The digital access element 704 may include various other information such metadata specifying when the digital access element was created, when it was last modified and / or when it expires.

[0193] The DID and digital access element 704 may be associated with a data registry node such as a centralized data service system or a decentralized data service system 706, e.g. a distributed ledger or blockchain or a decentralized file system. The distributed ledger or blockchain may be used to store a representation of the DID that points to the digital access element 704. A representation of the DID may be stored on distributed computing nodes of the distributed ledger or blockchain 706. For example, DID hash may be stored on multiple computing nodes of the distributed ledger and point to the location of the digital access element 704. In some embodiments, the digital access element 704 may be stored on the distributed ledger 706. Each of the computing nodes may store a copy of the distributed ledger 706. In this way, each DID hash can be stored redundantly, thereby allowing for an increased data safety. DIDs associated with a plurality of different digital access element 704 may be included in the distributed ledger 706.

[0194] In some embodiments, the digital access element 704 may be stored on the distributed ledger 706, i.e. either additionally or alternatively to the associated DID representation being stored on the distributed ledger 706. In other embodiments, the digital access element 1604 may be stored in a data storage (not illustrated) that is associated with the distributed ledger or blockchain or decentralized file system.

[0195] The distributed ledger or blockchain 706 may be any decentralized, distributed network that includes various computing nodes that are in communication with each other. For example, the distributed ledger 706 may include a 46 first distributed computing node, a second distributed computing node, a third distributed computing node, and any number of additional distributed computing nodes (not shown). The distributed ledger or blockchain 706 may include known 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 on 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.

[0196] FIG. 8 illustrates a second example of a digital access element including a decentral identifier and access data. The digital access element may be stored within a decentral registry 612 associated with a participant of the decentral network. The access elements stored in such decentral registry may be retrieved via an associated decentral data providing network node using the decentral identifier.

[0197] The decentral identifier may include one or more Universally Unique Identifier(s) (UUID(s)). The decentral identifier may include a first decentral identifier and a second decentral identifier. The first and the second decentral identifier may be different from each other. The first decentral identifier may signify the decentral identifier associated with the digital twin of the input material while the second decentral identifier may signify a decentral identifier associated with a dataset (e.g. aspect, such as digital asset or digital credential) associated with the input material contained within in the digital twin. The input material may be a recycled material. The input material may be any material used by a downstream participant of the value chain to produce further supply chain products.

[0198] The UUID may be unique at least within the scope in which the UUID is anticipated to be in use. The UUID may be a locally or globally unique identifier for a raw material, a basic substance, a chemical product, a component, an end-product or a recycled material. In one embodiment, the UUID may be a string of 128 letters and numbers e.g. according to the scheme [0-9a-fA-F]{8}-[0-9a-fA-F]{4}-[0-9a-fA-F]{4}-[0-9a-fA-F]{4}-[0-9a-fA-F]{12}. The UUID may be a decentralized ID independent of a centralized, third party management system and under the control of the data owner owning the data associated with the UUID.

[0199] The decentral identifier-based digital access element 802 may be a JSON data structure including the decentral identifier. The JSON data structure may include one or more key-value pairs. The JSON data structure may include one or more arrays. At least a part of the arrays may include one or more object(s). The object(s) may include one or more key-value pair(s). 231459

[0200] 47

[0201] The digital access element 802 may include access data that digitally links to data, such as aspect(s), the digital access element is associated with, e.g. by way of service endpoints. A service endpoint may include a network address at which a service operates on behalf of the data owner. In particular, the service endpoints may refer to services, such as decentral data providing network node(s), of the data owner that give access to product data, such as composition data associated with the end-product or the component thereof. Such services may include services to read or analyze data contained in the supply chain product data.

[0202] The digital access element 802 may include various other information such metadata specifying when the digital access element was created, when it was last modified and / or when it expires (not shown).

[0203] The digital access element 802 may be associated with a data registry node such as a decentral registry (not shown registry 612). The decentral registry may be a decentral database. The decentral database may be associated with the data owner of the digital twin. The decentral registry may be used to store digital access elements, such as digital access element 802.

[0204] 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.

[0205] 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.

[0206] 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.

[0207] In the claims as well as in the description the word “comprising” or “including” or similar wording does not exclude other elements or steps and shall not be construed limiting to the elements or steps lined out. The indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. A single element or other unit may fulfill the functions of several entities or items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in the mutual different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used in an advantageous implementation or further elements may be included. Providing in the scope of this disclosure may include any interface configured to provide data. This may include an application programming interface, a human-machine interface such as a display and / or a software module interface. Providing may include communication of data or submission of data to the interface, in particular display to a user or use of the data by the receiving entity.

Claims

23145949CLAIMS1 . A method for validating material data for monitoring one or more properties of a material critical for producing one or more products having product target properties, wherein the material is to be provided to a production to produce the one or more products, the method comprising: providing - per material and / or per material type - target material property data associated with one or more material properties required for producing the one or more products having the one or more product target properties; providing material data including material property data associated with one or more measured material properties, and one or more digital material identifier associated with the material; validating the material data by applying one or more validation rule(s) based on the provided target material property data to the provided material property data and determining that material fulfills target properties as specified by the provided target material property data to generate a material compliance result indicating that the provided material property data corresponds to the provided target material property data; generating - based on the validated material data - a digital asset including one or more digital credential(s) certifying compliance of the material data with the target material property data; providing the digital asset including one or more digital identifier(s) for access by a data consuming node under control of or controlled by a data providing node associated with data owner of the digital asset.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein when the material does not fulfill target properties as specified in the provided target material property data, no digital asset is generated, and the method comprises generating a communication that generation of the digital asset including the one or more digital credential(s) certifying compliance of the material data is not possible.

3. The method of any of claims 1 to 2, wherein the material property data is provided by data owner of the material data and / or entity producing the material and / or material owner.

4. The method of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the target material property data is provided by material consumer and / or material processor and / or entity operating a production.231459505. The method of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the measured material properties include one or more measured chemical and / physical properties of the material, and / or one or more chemical and / or physical properties of the material determined from the one or more measured chemical and / or physical properties of the material.

6. The method of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the one or more digital credential(s) includes one or more verifiable credential(s).

7. The method of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein validating includes generating a validation score associated with a degree of correlation between the provided material property data and the provided target data, the validation score being determined by aggregating validation scores for individual target material properties.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein validating the material data includes applying the one or one or more validation rule(s) based on the provided target material property data to the provided material property data, wherein the material data is validated if the validation score lies within a pre-defined range.

9. The method of any of claims 7 to 8, wherein when the given validation score does not lie within the predefined range, a communication indicating that generating of the digital asset including the one or more digital credential(s) certifying compliance of the material data is not possible is generated.

10. The method of any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the one or more digital(s) include one or more decentral identifier(s), and the digital asset is provided for access by a decentral data consuming node under control of or controlled by a decentral data providing node associated with the data owner of the digital asset via a decentral network protocol.11 . The method of any of claims 1 to 10, wherein providing the material data includes: providing one or more material type(s); retrieving - based on the provided one or more material type(s) - from one or more database(s) one or more material properties associated to the provided one or more material type(s); outputting - based on the retrieved one or more material properties - a material property profile including one or more properties specified in the one or more database(s) for the provided one or more material type(s); providing the output of the material property profile to a material producer for selecting material data including to be provided for validation of target property material data.2314595112. An apparatus for validating material data for monitoring one or more properties of a material critical for producing one or more products having product target properties, wherein the material is to be provided to a production to produce the one or more products, the apparatus comprising: a target material data providing interface configured to provide target material property data associated with one or more material properties required for producing the one or more products having the one or more product target properties; a material data providing interface configured to provide material data associated with one or more measured material properties, and one or more digital material identifier associated with the material; a validating interface configured to validate the material data applying one or more validation rule(s) based on the provided target material property data to the provided material property data and determining that material fulfills target properties as specified by the provided target material property data to generate a material compliance result indicating that the provided material property data corresponds to the provided target material property data ; a digital asset generator configured to generate - based on the validated material data - a digital asset including one or more digital credential(s) certifying compliance of the material data with the target material property data, a providing interface configured to provide the generated digital asset including one or more identifier(s) for access by a consuming node under control of or controlled by a data providing node associated with data owner of the digital asset.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein - when the material does not fulfill target properties as specified the provided target material property - the generator interface is configured to generate a communication that generation of the digital asset is not possible, and the providing interface is configured to provide the generated communication.

14. A material associated with the digital asset generated according to the method of any of claims 1 to 1 1 or by the apparatus according to claim 12.

15. A use of the digital asset as generated according to the method of any of claims 1 to 12 or by the apparatus according to claims 12 to 13 for monitoring one or more properties of a material critical for producing one or more products having product target properties, wherein the material is to be provided to a production to produce the one or more products having the product target properties.

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