Brand, model, category, store, timestamp, customer consent and the recycler's chain-of-custody — on one record. Exportable into your circular-economy disclosure under ESRS E5.
The data layer sits alongside the producer-responsibility scheme already in place. The same record set is what the CSRD lead pulls into the internal business case for the CFO and the COO.
Aggregate weight reporting describes what arrived at the recycler's gate. Product-level traceability describes what left the customer's hand. Year-one limited assurance accepts the first; year-two reasonable assurance asks for the second.
The product left the retail relationship the moment it entered the home. By the time it reaches the bin, the customer has already decided what to replace it with, where to buy the replacement, and whether your brand is part of that decision.
The auditor accepts the recycler's gate-in weight. Aggregate kilograms, recycler-stamped, summarised by quarter. The artefact is the recycler's invoice. The risk is that next year's reasonable assurance asks more.
The auditor asks what left the customer's hand, not what arrived at the recycler's gate. Per-product brand, category, store, timestamp, consent, chain-of-custody. The artefact is the take-back record set. The risk has already moved.
The take-back budget is already approved under EPR and CSRD obligations. Product-level traceability turns that mandatory line into two value lines simultaneously — audit-grade evidence for the auditor and a verified email channel at €1–3 per subscriber for the marketing team.
The Netherlands pilot ran across nine stores and produced the product-level evidence trail this page describes. Audit-grade take-back evidence, defined in plain language, with citations.