We consider the term "Product" in the broader sense. The following items may well comply with this understanding of a product:

• A software supporting the Circular Economy
• A Circular Economy hardware product, tool, or technological device
• A service, offered as part of a Circular Economy enabling portfolio
• A methodology or a process related to the Circular Economy

Please do not confuse products with technologies of the Circular Economy. In contrast to technologies, products have an owner and can be promoted as such through the Marketplace. Read about further differences between technologies and products in another FAQ item.

CE Technologies are considered to be established techniques, methods, and processes used for the production of goods or services supporting the circular economy in the domains Water, Energy and Materials. The following is a non-exhaustive list of characteristic differences between technologies and products:

• Products apply certain technologies. Technologies are used in products.
• Products are associated with an organisation or a person who is the owner, developer or creator. Technologies have none of them.
• Only products can be covered by patents and copyright laws.
• Only products can be commercially exploited and are often sold, rented, licensed etc.
• There is often a contact person appointed to give further information on a product. Information on technologies is provided in the literature.

The Marketplace provides information that allows interested readers to understand what a product is about, how it is used in the Circular Economy and if and under which conditions they can apply it in their own case. It also allows professionals to contact the developers/owners of the product and foster cooperation and partnerships. The Marketplace does not provide download access to a software product or any kind of source code.

Registered users can upload product information for their own products or products owned by their affiliated organization. They are responsible for keeping the information up-to-date as they will be promoted through various means by the Marketplace. This service is currently provided for free.

Registered users can upload information on products they own as follows:

• Login to the Marketplace. If you are not registered yet fill in the registration form first. The registration is simple and free of charge.
• Navigate to the edit new product page and fill out the form. Some fields having an asterisk (*) in the title are required. However, it is a good idea to provide as much information as possible and be as comprehensive as possible.

Please note that only products owned by you or your organisation can be uploaded and not technologies of the Circular Economy. Check out the differences between products and technologies.

Registered users are able to express the relevance of products with respect to their interests. They may give one of the following ratings in particular:

• mood Very relevant
• sentiment_satisfied Relevant
• sentiment_neutral Somehow relevant
• sentiment_dissatisfied Not so relevant
• mood_bad Not at all relevant
• add_reaction Not rated yet

The declared relevance of products with respect to the user's interests will be used to promote high-rated and similar products in the dashboard and personal listings of the specific user. The rating of one user has no effect on others or on the product in particular. In the absence of the user's opinion, the recomender system will suggest products based on other information, such as the declared preferences on technologies, tags and keywords or may be primarily influenced by chance.

All product information is available to the public, free of charge, in the form of factsheets. Registered users receive additional services such as product recommendations based on their preferences and interests. There is currently no charge for uploading product information. In the future, there may be a small annual fee for uploading and promoting product factsheets through the Marketplace. This is to keep the service at a high level.

For security reasons, you are only able to upload factsheets of products that are owned by organisations with which you are affiliated.
As a data manager, you are responsible for keeping the data of your products up-to-date. You can, however, transfer the management to other users by selecting them on the product edit page. You can only appoint other users if they are related to one of the organisations with which you are affiliated. By transferring the data management to another person, you lose this role.