GS1 Australia, a non-profit member-based organisation, has announced that it is supporting the Australian Government's National Framework for Recycled Content Traceability initiative.

This framework has been introduced by the Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.

The initiative aims to promote the reuse of recovered plastics, glass, and other materials to gradually transition to a circular economy system.

It will guide local businesses in collecting and sharing information regarding recycled materials.

To support the national government’s newly released framework, GS1 Australia is providing its GS1 Traceability standard.

The use of this standard aims to provide a uniform structure that will help local businesses in tracking products as they move from origin to destination, which is a critical requirement in managing recycled materials.

GS1 Australia CEO and executive director Maria Palazzolo said: “We welcome the delivery of this important framework. It will provide guidance to industry on how to manage recycled content.

“We are particularly pleased that government has referenced the use of GS1 standards to solve some of the problems identified.

“Invoking standards that are already in use by more than 22,000 Australian businesses will make the task of implementing the framework considerably easier.”

Initially endorsed by Australia’s environment ministers on 10 November 2023, the framework is a national guideline that aims to strengthen Australia's existing recycling sector.

The current lack of information on the quality and the place from where recycled material is sourced poses a major challenge in the country, making it difficult for manufacturers and consumers to verify whether a particular product is made with recycled content or not.

This framework and added GS1 standard will help in tackling these challenges and improving the traceability of recycled materials.