GTIN
In common parlance, many people know the GTIN as a barcode, but technically the GTIN is the number below the barcode symbol itself, and can therefore also be used for other technologies such as 2D barcodes and RFID tags.
In common parlance, many people know the GTIN as a barcode, but technically the GTIN is the number below the barcode symbol itself, and can therefore also be used for other technologies such as 2D barcodes and RFID tags.
Would you like to know how GS1 works with the SDGs? And how global standards are helping the work towards achieving the UN's SDGs? On this page, you can read more about how standards and barcodes help ensure that the world's population gets the right medicine, or how smart barcodes can help reduce food waste or increase global sustainable growth.
Click around the site, learn more and get inspired about how you can help achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. And how you can actually contribute to the SDGs by using GS1 standards.
SDG Week 2023
Food waste is such a major societal challenge that it is enshrined in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. By 2030, global food waste at retail and consumer level per capita must be halved.
Of course, there is no simple quick fix to such a challenge. But there is a small, simple solution that can solve a large part of the food waste challenge.
The simple solution is a new, smart barcode (in layman's terms called a 2D barcode) that can contain much more information than the current one, which all Danes know from the trip to the supermarket. By letting a smart barcode know the expiry date of the product, supermarkets can reduce a good part of their food waste.
But how do we get started with smart barcodes in Denmark?
GS1 Denmark and the think tank MandagMorgen invite you to a debate on this topic during SDG Week 2023.
It will take place on Friday 3 February from 10.00 to 11.00 in the Parliamentary Chamber at Christiansborg.
Debate participants:
If you read the SDGs website, you will see that the UN SDGs are supposed to be the most ambitious global development agenda to date. The SDGs were created during a UN summit in New York in 2015. The purpose of the goals is to set a course towards sustainability for people and for our planet on 17 different points. These include eradicating hunger, providing clean water, reducing CO2 emissions or increasing global health and well-being.
You can see the 17 goals below, while you can tap into six of them. Namely the six that GS1 contributes to through global standards.
Working with GS1 standards can support a number of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Here we focus on five key and very different goals that show the role GS1 standards play in companies and organizations working with the SDGs - from food waste to patient safety. You can read more at gs1.dk.
How does GS1 work with the SDGs in practice? Read about it here.
GS1 ensures the right medicines for the world's population
Two major issues are emerging worldwide to which GS1 is actively contributing. These are counterfeit medicines and mismatches. GS1 2D barcodes ensure, through unique identification, that the medicine in hand is both genuine and correct for each patient's needs. In this way, GS1 directly contributes to the health and well-being of the world's population.
GS1 standards help create efficient value chains
The SSCC standard is an important tool in, for example, inventory management in many large logistics companies around the world. One of the many uses of the standard is to ensure that trucks do not drive around half full, thus increasing efficiency and lowering CO2 emissions. This is achieved by the standards' ability to create transparency about which goods are coming in and which are going out first, among other things.
Return systems need global standards and common language
As part of the transition to a circular economy, we need to move away from old waste principles and talk about collection and recycling. This creates new challenges through circular supply chains, which increasingly call for global GS1 standards. In Denmark, we are masters in deposit and return systems and the Danish Return System, through GTIN, GLN and GRAI standards, among others, has managed to get us all to not perceive beverage packaging as waste.
GS1 standards could cut retail food waste by 28%
Smartbarcodes could be part of the solution to halving food waste worldwide by 2030. GS1 can demonstrate from foreign cases that Danish retailers can reduce their food waste by 28%. This is due to the ability of smart barcodes to digitise batch/lot and best before dates on food. This will boost the entire food industry's ability to prevent waste and improve food safety.
Contributing to the need for traceability and sustainable fishing
Due to overfishing, there is an increased need to focus on documentation and transparency of the ocean supply chain. This need can currently be solved through GS1's standards for 2D barcodes and EPCIS - something that GS1 Norway has embraced. Today, they support Norwegian fisheries through EPCIS and the adoption of 2D barcodes and GS1's new Digital Link standard.
EU climate goals call for global cooperation and common language
Due to globalisation and global supply chains, future EU legislation is creating repercussions all over the world. The shift to a circular economy over the next years will put new and tough demands on selected industries on traceability, transparency and recycling - first for batteries for electric cars. GS1 standards are already part of the solution, providing a common language through 2D barcodes and GS1 Digital Link, developed in collaboration with the European Commission and others.
To learn more about how GS1 Denmark supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals, please contact our specialist.
Goal: Ensure healthy lives for all and promote well-being at all ages
Improving global health and well-being will be achieved by eradicating a range of dangerous diseases. These include AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, which still kill many people every day. These deaths must be prevented by supporting research, development and dissemination of vaccines, and by ensuring that the right medicines are easily accessible and affordable.
GS1 contributes:
GS1 standards (GTIN, GLN and GS1 DataMatrix) can be used to prevent the use and spread of counterfeit medicines. With GS1 standards, medicines and vaccines can be tracked and identified throughout the global supply chain. Tracking starts at the manufacturer, who applies a unique GS1 DataMatrix barcode to their products. The barcode ensures that information such as serial number, batch number and expiry date can be easily and quickly retrieved at any time. In this way, the entire supply chain can ensure that it is handling the right medicine. In this way, GS1 standards can increase patient safety globally by contributing to better, safer and more efficient handling of medicines, vaccines, medical devices, etc.
Goal: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
It must be possible for everyone to get a job, so that you do not end up as a number in the statistics of rising unemployment. The SDG seeks to promote global, sustained economic growth. This includes supporting entrepreneurship, boosting productivity and seeking more technological breakthroughs. The goal is full employment and decent work for all men and women by 2030.
GS1 contributes:
GS1 standards are present every time the world's goods change hands and therefore serve as a foundation for trade and growth worldwide. A GS1 standard is scanned over 6 billion times every day, making it a visible part of economic growth and sustaining productivity. In addition, GS1 standards also contribute to the collection of master data, enabling the measurement and communication of climate footprints to demonstrate sustainable growth.
Goal: Conserve and ensure the sustainable use of the world's oceans and their resources
Overfishingby 30% threatens the sustainable reproduction of fish stocks. Added to this is the huge amount of plastic floating around in the oceans, which is taking up more and more space. In other words, we face some serious challenges when it comes to caring for the world's oceans.
GS1 contributes:
As well as leading to recycling, our Danish deposit system increases the likelihood of bottles and cans ending up in a deposit machine instead of the sea. In fact, 89% of the plastic floating in the world's oceans comes from single-use products - including plastic bottles. Every time you pawn a bottle or a can, the GS1 standard GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) has a finger in the pie. Because the deposit machine reads the barcode on the bottle and tells the system what type of bottle/can has been deposited. The Danish Return System uses this data to keep track of what and how much is returned. In the fisheries and food sector, the GS1 standard EPCIS (Electronic Product Code Information Services) can support increased documentation requirements on where and when a fish was caught, and via 2D barcodes easily and quickly provide consumers with this information.
Goal: Ensure sustainable consumption and production
We must reduce our footprint on nature. This must be done by changing the way we produce and consume. We must manage our natural resources and the way we dispose of waste and pollutants more effectively. We need better production methods and supply chains to improve food security and push us towards a more resource-efficient economy.
GS1 contributes:
GS1 is working globally to make visible the benefits of using 2D barcodes (e.g. GS1 Datamatrix) rather than the familiar barcode (1D barcode). The benefits are many and all relate to the amount of data that the 2D barcode can contain and the fact that data can also be dynamic. This means that, via GS1 serialised GTINs (Global Trade Item Numbers), products can be tracked down to the unit level much more securely and efficiently. This will significantly increase food safety in the many cases where food is recalled every year for health or life-threatening reasons. Furthermore, several pilot tests with 2D barcodes in grocery stores have shown that it is also a very effective weapon in the fight against food waste, because the barcode can contain information on the expiry date of the product. Linking the 2D barcode on a food product, for example, to the GS1 Digital Link - a standardised way of linking the familiar barcode data to the internet - makes it easy for consumers to use their own smartphones to find out about, for example, country of origin,
production conditions, climate impact, allergens, etc. All of this information is increasingly being used by consumers to make purchasing decisions - and can help to create more sustainable consumption.
Ensuring sustainable consumption and production
We must reduce our footprint on nature. This must be done by changing the way we produce and consume. We need to manage our natural resources and the way we dispose of toxic waste and pollutants more effectively. We need better production methods and supply chains to improve food security and push us towards a more resource-efficient economy.
GS1 contributes:
GS1 is working globally to make visible the benefits of using 2D barcodes (e.g. GS1 Datamatrix) rather than the familiar barcode (1D barcode). The benefits are many and all relate to the amount of data that the 2D barcode can contain and the fact that data can also be dynamic. This means that, via GS1 serialised GTINs (Global Trade Item Numbers), products can be tracked down to the unit level much more securely and efficiently. This will significantly increase food safety in the many cases where food is recalled every year for health or life-threatening reasons. Furthermore, several pilot tests with 2D barcodes in grocery stores have shown that it is also a very effective weapon in the fight against food waste, because the barcode can contain information on the expiry date of the product. Linking the 2D barcode on a food product, for example, to the GS1 Digital Link - a standardised way of linking the familiar barcode data to the internet - makes it easy for consumers to use their own smartphones to find out about, for example, country of origin, production conditions, climate impact, allergens, etc. All of this information is increasingly being used by consumers to make purchasing decisions - and can help to create more sustainable consumption.
Goal: Strengthen the global partnership for sustainable development and increase funding to achieve the goals
The world today is more connected than ever before. Better access to technology and knowledge is an important way to share ideas and foster innovation. Promoting international trade and supporting increased exports from developing countries will help achieve a universal, rules-based and equitable trading system that is fair, open and benefits all.
GS1 contributes:
As a global standards organisation, GS1 stands on the shoulders of a unique partnership between some of the world's largest players in the grocery, food manufacturing and supply chain sectors, which led to the development of the GS1 Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) standard over 50 years ago and GS1 as an organisation today. Since then, new partnerships in other industries and sectors have emerged, so that today GS1 globally has developed standards for a total of 25 different sectors. Common to all GS1 standards is the goal of contributing to sustainable growth and better lives by providing security and coherence in society as the world's goods change hands.
.png)
