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.

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.

Sustainability is about meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, as defined by the United Nations Bruntland Commission.1 In the context of a company’s operations sustainability can be considered the activities that directly or indirectly target the reduction in both environmental and social risks to a company, and the company’s negative impact in environmental and social matters, including measuring and reporting of those activities. Sustainability for a company can also add commercial value by improving company image, facilitating compliance and realising operational improvements.

The role of GS1 standards is relevant for a wide range of sustainability aspects. A recent research project carried out by GS1 in collaboration with Accenture reached the conclusion that pressing sustainability needs and challenges that the industry has expressed, and where GS1 standards can play a role include, Supply Chain Responsibility & Transparency, Material & Resource Management, Energy & Climate Action, as well as the capability for companies to implement regulatory requirements. To do this GS1 is facilitating the full suite of GS1 standards including unique identification, data carriers, master data, web vocabulary etc. this underpins a wide range of use cases that industry is facing.

The programme is GS1’s global approach to create value for the users of our standards by supporting and adressing industry sustainability needs. The programme is built on a comprehensive approach for GS1 to address the existing and emerging sustainability topics, and includes comprehensive global approaches to sustainability and circularity topics, including the required standards and data services development but also collateral, training and education, stakeholder engagement, and marketing and communication support. MOs and Regions will work with the programme and integrate the approaches in the MO operations as needed and include in local strategies and plans aligned to the global programme. Ultimately ensuring that MOs are ready to address the industry members sustainability needs. The programme will also help establish a global sustainability community where MOs know where to turn and where to share updates and information and seek strategic advise on local engagements. The programme is transversal and primarily focusing on sustainability in the GS1 core sectors retail, marketplaces and healthcare., and with the potential to expand to other sectors as they grow in relevance (dependent on Vision 2030 priorities).

With stricter requirements in place requiring companies to share data from the entire value chain, including sourcing of goods and services, processing of products, transport and distribution, and finally end-of-life treatment such as recycling of products, there is an important and strategic role to play for GS1, enabling industry’s green transformation with GS1 standards underpinning the digital exchange of sustainability and circularity data. In general terms the role of GS1 in sustainability is the same as for other business activities, which is to underpin the digital exchange of (product / location / event) data based on unique identification and standardised data. While GS1 has been supporting industry with these processes for many years, the new challenge is to also incorporate the use cases for sustainability that would require new sets of data to be exchanged in what sometimes can be different processes in a company’s supply chain. For example the exchange of carbon footprint data, facilitating carbon transparency and ESG reporting. However, use cases can also be already existing, such as packaging master data, where the programme is putting the topic into the right context associated with emerging requirements in markets, for example around packaging material reporting and extended producer responsibility.