CIRCULAR ECONOMY
an unprecedented level of collaboration across the procurement industry to improve product traceability within global supply chains . Attributes must be tracked and recorded at every step of the product ’ s journey from the sourcing of its raw materials to the point of sale , so the consumers have the recycling information they need to extend the product ’ s life cycle . With industry standards , procurement teams can ensure their data is digitised , stored and transferred in a common language amongst their trading partners so they have the data required for circularity to scale .
The future of the circular economy The procurement industry is just scratching the surface of circularity , but as ESG regulations continue to ramp up , consumers continue to demand more , and influential brands start stepping up to the plate , it will not only be able to create more resilient supply chains but also a greener , more sustainable world .
Businesses are making strides towards a circular economy every day . For example , GS1 US ’ start-up partners , like Scrapp , are developing apps that utilise product data to make recycling easier and decrease the amount of products that end up in our landfills .
Additionally , GS1 US is experimenting with persistent identification by developing ways to integrate machine-readable data into product fabrics , components and more . This means the product ’ s identity will eventually persist past the point of sale and essential recycling information will be carried across multiple life cycles , even after the product packaging and tags are discarded . procurementmag . com 97