Smart packaging from conception to recycling
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On 1 June, the GS1 network, which among other things creates and manages barcodes for companies worldwide, initiated a system for two-dimensional barcodes in the form of QR codes. The aim is to meet contemporary challenges and offer added value to industrial and retail partners as well as end customers.
The barcode has been one-dimensional since 1974. The QR code is two-dimensional and can therefore store more information. The inconspicuous squares with their complex patterns can display combinations of over 4,000 letters or more than 7,000 numbers. Accordingly, they are already in use in many areas of life: for encoding train and flight tickets, admission tickets or as digital EU vaccination certificates, but also on products for marketing purposes.
The new GS1 Digital Link now combines several functions in one printable QR code. „This GS1 Digital Link will offer a lot of potential for a wide range of information services, on the one hand for the people and systems that bring the products to the customer in the supply networks, and on the other hand for the customers themselves, who now want to know a lot more before they decide on a product,“ says Thomas Fell, Managing Director of GS1 Digital Link. GS1 Germany. Once the decision in favour of a product has been made, further information, even worlds of experience, can be called up for the consumer via the smartphone. Prepared or interactive information can vary. Tutorials, demos, customer services, recommendations or even recipes are conceivable.
The advantages of the new system are manifold. Consumers with allergies can use the scan to determine at a glance whether there are any critical allergens in the product. „With a 2D-capable code Information available for different recipients„, says Ilke Machemer, Senior Manager at GS1 Germany. Consumers who are interested in sustainable production and corresponding ingredients, for example, can also have these displayed via the code.
“Every product can now provide transparent and complete information about itself with the GS1 Digital Link Standard and QR code. This supports sustainable consumer decisions.”
As one of the first companies in Germany, Frankfurt-based drinks manufacturer Jake's Lemonade is planning to place the GS1 Digital Link on its products by the end of July 2022.
Source: GS1
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