“The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) took a major step forward today when they announced the completion of 10 Category Sustainability Profiles as part of research on 50 product categories, with a commitment to develop 50 additional product categories by the end of 2011.” - source: The Sustainability Consortium
A bit of background
Several years ago, Walmart supported the creation of “The Sustainability Consortium” in an effort to drive product-level sustainability. (See earlier post on this subject.) Supplier scorecards for reporting sustainability across the supply chain were put in place – and efforts to move towards some mechanism for easily creating and comparing a product’s “sustainability score” against its competitors – was envisioned. To date, the Sustainability Consortium’s efforts have been embraced by some and criticized by others. But whether you’re a supporter or not, it’s worth paying attention to the Consortium’s latest developments because of the potential impact their work may ultimately have on the Walmart supplier community. In that light, noted below are some of the key points of their latest announcement.
Which product categories are included?
The Sustainability Consortium announced that it has completed 10 category sustainability profiles. The categories that are a part of this initial launch include beef, coffee, cotton towels, yogurt, fashion dolls, laptops, laundry detergent, televisions, toilet tissues, and wheat cereal.
Why were these product categories selected?
TSC members chose these categories because of their business relevance, potential for improvement, and magnitude of impact.
What’s the objective?
TSC’s objective is to have this information serve as the basis for driving sustainable change in research and development, understanding supplier sustainability through scorecards or benchmarking, establishing sustainable sourcing policies, and guiding product designs. TSC believes that these deliverables represent a significant milestone for The Consortium’s Sustainability Measurement and Reporting System to inform retailers, buyers, manufacturers, and suppliers about the impacts various consumer goods and supply networks have on the climate, water, energy, biodiversity, toxicity, and society.
A bit of background
Several years ago, Walmart supported the creation of “The Sustainability Consortium” in an effort to drive product-level sustainability. (See earlier post on this subject.) Supplier scorecards for reporting sustainability across the supply chain were put in place – and efforts to move towards some mechanism for easily creating and comparing a product’s “sustainability score” against its competitors – was envisioned. To date, the Sustainability Consortium’s efforts have been embraced by some and criticized by others. But whether you’re a supporter or not, it’s worth paying attention to the Consortium’s latest developments because of the potential impact their work may ultimately have on the Walmart supplier community. In that light, noted below are some of the key points of their latest announcement.
Which product categories are included?
The Sustainability Consortium announced that it has completed 10 category sustainability profiles. The categories that are a part of this initial launch include beef, coffee, cotton towels, yogurt, fashion dolls, laptops, laundry detergent, televisions, toilet tissues, and wheat cereal.
Why were these product categories selected?
TSC members chose these categories because of their business relevance, potential for improvement, and magnitude of impact.
According to the press release, “The Sustainability Consortium’s work on these profiles, which identify and prioritize the largest impacts in the life cycle of a product, is extremely valuable,” said Helen van Hoeven, director of market transformation at World Wildlife Fund and a recently appointed Consortium Board member. “This information allows retailers, manufacturers, and suppliers to focus their efforts on innovating and improving on products and their supply chains where it matters most.”
How are these profiles created?
“The Consortium collects the best available knowledge by reviewing published life cycle assessments, scanning literature, interviewing subject matter experts, integrating life cycle models, and utilizing our large network of corporate, NGO, academic, and government partners. We turn over every rock for information to see what’s available,” said Joby Carlson, Knowledge Base manager for The Sustainability Consortium. “From that, we begin to understand the most well supported environmental and societal issues related to a product category. We also reveal relevant and actionable best practices or product attributes that organizations can implement to address these priority issues.
What’s the objective?
TSC’s objective is to have this information serve as the basis for driving sustainable change in research and development, understanding supplier sustainability through scorecards or benchmarking, establishing sustainable sourcing policies, and guiding product designs. TSC believes that these deliverables represent a significant milestone for The Consortium’s Sustainability Measurement and Reporting System to inform retailers, buyers, manufacturers, and suppliers about the impacts various consumer goods and supply networks have on the climate, water, energy, biodiversity, toxicity, and society.
What’s the view from its membership community? Are these profiles valid?
“We are big believers in The Consortium’s approach,” said Dr. Len Sauers, vice president for global sustainability at Procter & Gamble and Consortium Board member. “Having these profiles will be immensely helpful to bring people around the table to make real progress towards product sustainability.”
“We are big believers in The Consortium’s approach,” said Dr. Len Sauers, vice president for global sustainability at Procter & Gamble and Consortium Board member. “Having these profiles will be immensely helpful to bring people around the table to make real progress towards product sustainability.”
What’s the key takeaway?
The impact of the efforts of the Sustainability Consortium to provide guidance around sustainability metrics for retail products like toys, electronics, and cleaning agents promises to be significant in the years ahead. While the foundation for the sustainability ratings and/or rankings to come may be questioned by some, the reality is that the groundwork is being laid to make product design more sustainable, in general – and to make more eco-friendly product options available to mainstream consumers. Ultimately, the key will be for a manufacturer to be able to provide some kind of verifiable qualifying data to back up its eco-design or sustainability claims. At the end of the day, this is a good thing – perhaps the system isn’t perfect, but it’s a start – and it’s better than what exists currently. So – we’ll be watching. And critics should be, too. If there’s something that seems totally amiss, then it is the job of the watchdogs among us to speak up.
See also:
Sustainable Product and Consumption Starts to Get Real in the Marketplace The Sustainability Consortium Adopts PE International's GaBi Tool to Perform LCA
The impact of the efforts of the Sustainability Consortium to provide guidance around sustainability metrics for retail products like toys, electronics, and cleaning agents promises to be significant in the years ahead. While the foundation for the sustainability ratings and/or rankings to come may be questioned by some, the reality is that the groundwork is being laid to make product design more sustainable, in general – and to make more eco-friendly product options available to mainstream consumers. Ultimately, the key will be for a manufacturer to be able to provide some kind of verifiable qualifying data to back up its eco-design or sustainability claims. At the end of the day, this is a good thing – perhaps the system isn’t perfect, but it’s a start – and it’s better than what exists currently. So – we’ll be watching. And critics should be, too. If there’s something that seems totally amiss, then it is the job of the watchdogs among us to speak up.
See also:
Sustainable Product and Consumption Starts to Get Real in the Marketplace The Sustainability Consortium Adopts PE International's GaBi Tool to Perform LCA
