Europe's desire is to become climate neutral by 2050. To achieve this, there is the Green Deal. It focuses on laws and regulations for a new model of production and consumption, where existing materials, components and products are used, reused, repaired, refurbished and recycled as long as possible.
The use of a common data language is the only way to achieve the efficiency and reliability needed for the circular economy.
Some key laws and regulations to support and facilitate the Green Deal's objectives are:
- Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) - New minimum sustainability and circularity requirements for products on the European market. The Digital Product Passport is part of this.
- Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) - A reporting directive for mandatory disclosure of ESG risks and improvement measures. From 2025, this will apply to all companies with more than 250 employees and/or more than €50 million annual turnover and/or more than €25 million on their balance sheet. From 2026, listed SMEs will also have their turn.
- Deforestation Law (EUDR) - All companies in the supply chain must declare the origin of their commodities to determine the risk of deforestation. For timber, rubber, soya, cocoa, coffee, beef and palm oil.
- Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) - Rules to reduce packaging waste, increase re-use, recycling or use of recycled materials.
- Green Claims Directive - Complements the EU ban on greenwashing and introduces a verification system for companies that want to make environmental claims.
The challenge for the whole supply chain is to achieve a reliable flow of information. And for that, identification is key. Because being able to track the journey of each product or component provides all parties in the chain with updated data to optimise the lifecycle of products and components. And it gives insight into the ecological footprint of the product. The QR code powered by GS1 lays an important role in unlocking all that data.
Michiel van Yperen
GS1's sustainability manager
And the role of data?
For the transition to a sustainable, circular economy, the demand is shifting from basic data to data for the full traceability of products. Tracking a product's journey through the chain and providing information to all stakeholders therefore requires a lot of data.
A lot of data is already available, but often not shareable with other stakeholders in the chain (up stream/down stream). That is why global and open standards are needed: one data language available and usable by everyone. The basis is identification of products with a Global Trade Item Number (GTIN), allowing parties in the chain to share data at different levels.
GS1 facilitates
GS1 takes a neutral position and coordinates cooperation for the optimal use of data and standards between all parties in the chain, IT solution providers and other stakeholders such as industry and interest groups.
Currently, GS1 is working with companies in various working groups to reach agreements on what data should be shared and how GS1 can facilitate this. Examples include the expansion of data models for ESG data and packaging information, the use of the GLN (Global Location Number) to track the journey of a product. the QR code powered by GS1 and building blocks for a Digital Product Passport.