The programme has been established to ensure that GS1 has a global robust approach to how we best can support our industry members. We are working closely with industry to understand what their needs are, and we are working in the programme to make sure MOs are ready to deliver on these needs in their local markets.

Tracking and reducing environmental impact are two widely different things that need separate approaches. But it should be noted that GS1 standards are fit to support both, simply put, this is because many challenges related to sustainability are data problems and GS1 standards help identify, interpret and communicate this data for effective sustainability improvement strategies.

GS1 standards are already in use by the majority of industry across sectors and can be repurposed to fulfil the obligations of crucial sustainability requirements. The programme has developed specific assessments of sustainability use cases that include the industry value of GS1 standards to address the industry challenge.

Yes there are some, and the programme is working to increase the number of case studies. Please see the Use Case Library

The GS1 standards and data services are at the core of the programme, and while many of the use cases are ready for deployment today, the ones that need standards work are being addressed with a sense of urgency to make sure we develop what industry needs in a timely manner. The standards offer scalable approaches that can be deployed with the view of an industry wide solution, which drives down complexity and avoids duplication for industry.

The UN has defined sustainability as: “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Circularity or circular economy is an alternative to a traditional linear economy (make, use and dispose) in which resources are kept in use for as long as possible, the maximum value extracted from them whilst in use, and then products and materials recovered and regenerated at the end of each service life. Circularity relates to products, consumption, and waste, whereas sustainability encompasses more data points such as emissions, social impact, and transparent governance. To summarise, circularity is a practice that will lead to sustainability.