Many manufacturing companies have limited insight into the complete life cycle of their products. Insight that is necessary to manage the environmental impacts associated with the company’s operation. One possible solution to this challenge is to apply emerging sensor technology for communicating with products. Despite the current trend of digitalization and use of sensors in the manufacturing industry, there is little attention given to how product communication may improve environmental sustainability.We propose a framework on how product communication can facilitate improved life cycle management, by contributing with needed information for improved value chain insight, design for environment and end-of-life management.