This document is the original user guide for the OIA Eco Index. It was created to provide general guidance

Transcription

1 User Guide This document is the original user guide for the OIA Eco Index. It was created to provide general guidance for the use of the Eco Index components. THIS IS NOT CURRENT INFORMATION. IT IS PROVIDED FOR HISTORICAL CONTEXT ONLY. THE HIGG INDEX IS THE CURRENT INDEXING TOOL. Section 1: Overview The Eco Index is an Outdoor Industry environmental assessment tool intended to be used by companies to incorporate environmental considerations across the product life cycle. The capabilities of the Eco Index allow measurement of environmental performance of products through an evaluation that includes a life cycle based perspective. The index is intended to enable companies to incorporate environmental considerations into their product designs and to manage their supply chains in a way that supports their environmental goals. It is designed to be used for both materials, such as intermediate products, as well as finished products, providing a means to cumulatively assess performance at various stages of a product s life cycle, as well as a finished product s complete life cycle. The Eco Index contains three types of tools guidelines, indicators and metrics which can be used together or separately. The index tools should be viewed as a progression of complexity, whereby those just entering the arena of assessing and measuring environmental performance of products should start with the guidelines, and work towards the indicators and ultimately the metrics. A) Environmental Guidelines - These are qualitative principles and practices, intended to be used as an educational tool, promoting continuous environmental improvement for companies and suppliers. Guidelines

2 are intended to be general and introductory in nature and provoke thought, further research, and questions. No previous environmental and sustainability knowledge or experience is needed to utilize the guidelines. B) Environmental Indicators with Comparative Scoring System - These are measurable attributes or parameters that demonstrate environmental impact or improvement; they can be either qualitative of quantitative. The indicators may be utilized for one specific life cycle area (e.g. materials, packaging, product manufacturing) or used across all life cycles to create a full assessment for a consumer product. Moderate environmental and sustainability knowledge and experience is recommended to utilize the indicators. C) Environmental Footprint Metrics - These are units of measure, and include an industry wide common methodology of calculating the metric and collecting the data. The metrics are used to assess environment impact and measure improvement. Moderate to advanced environmental footprinting knowledge and experience is recommended to utilize the metrics. It is recognized that a larger degree of supply chain engagement is required to utilize the metrics. Section 2: User Guide Terminology Companies use a variety of terms for the entities in the supply chain and there is variation in what those terms mean for each company. However, for the purposes of this index the following supply chain terms and definitions are used: Company An entity engaging in commercial activity. Refers to the primary audience/accountability holder of this document. Facility Industrial property, such as a building, plant or structure built, or established for converting raw materials, components, or parts into finished or semi-finished goods (e.g. materials and products). Subcontractor A supplier contracted to another supplier to provide material, labor or operations. Suppliers A company that supplies parts or services to another company (note can qualify, such as material supplier, finished product supplier, etc.). Supply Chain Members Any participant in the value chain from production to delivery to point of sale (e.g. suppliers, transporters, distributors, retailers).

3 Section 3: Eco Index Application and Scope This index is intended to be applicable to all Outdoor Industry hard-good and soft-good products (e.g. shoes, apparel, backpacks, skis, tents, sleeping bags, camp stoves, etc.), the materials (intermediate products) that make up those products including packaging, and the related processes (e.g. and the facilities where those product take place). The Eco Index applies to the following lifecycle stages of products: Materials: For the purposes of this index, the materials life cycle stage includes the following stages: Metal Hard & Soft Plastics Textile & Yarn Leather Raw Materials Stage Production of aluminum, steel, steel to shape, tube, part (includes hardening, drawing, forging) Pellet to part (includes refining, vulcanization, polymerization, pelletizing, molding) Fibers or yarns to greige goods (includes refining, polymerization, scouring, ginning, combing, spinning, weaving) Raw hide to tanned hide (includes the entire tanning process) Processing (Finishing) Stage (not including product assembly) Part to final finished part (includes anodizing, painting, plating) Part to final finished part (includes surface treatment, texture, painting, pigmenting) Greige goods to finished textile (includes dyeing, coating, treating, calendaring, printing, surface treatment) Tanned hide to finished leather (includes retanning, coloring, fatliquoring and finishing) Packaging: For the purpose of this index, packaging is defined as any material providing a means of marketing, protection, shipping or handling of a product and shall include a unit package, an intermediate package and a shipping container. This includes, but is not limited to, the following: Hangtags Corrugated Cartons Shoeboxes Shipping Pallets Swifttachs Slip Sheets Clamshells Tissue Paper Labels (UPC, case lot and carton) Foam Hangers Size Strips Retail, Gift and Specialty Boxes Inserts Bags and Poly-bags Tape Product Manufacturing and Assembly: For the purpose of this index, this is defined as the processes to convert materials and components into the finished product. Transport and Distribution: For the purpose of this index, this is defined as the shipping and movement of product through the supply chain. This life cycle stage will be address in Phase 2.

4 Use and Service: For the purpose of this index, this is defined as the life cycle stage where the product is being used and cared for by the user/consumer. End of Life: For the purpose of this index, this life cycle stage is when a product is at the end of its intended functional life of the final user/consumer. Section 4: Eco Index Components Companies just entering the arena of assessing and measuring environmental performance of products should start with the guidelines. No previous environmental and sustainability knowledge or experience is needed to utilize the guidelines. The guidelines are qualitative principles and management practices, intended to be used as an educational tool, promoting continuous environmental improvement for companies and suppliers. They are intended to be more general in nature and provoke thought, further research, and questions. It is each company s responsibility to apply these guidelines in a way that is meaningful to their products and business. The Phase 1 Beta Eco Index includes three categories of guidelines Product Guidelines, Facilitates Guidelines and Design Guidelines as follows: Product Guidelines These guidelines focus on the product attributes and include the following life cycle stages: o Materials o Packaging o Product Manufacturing & Assembly o Use and Service o End of Life Facilities Guidelines - These guidelines apply to material, packaging and manufacturing facilities. Design Guidelines - These guidelines are a compilation of the product guidelines from the other guidelines documents that apply to designers and developers. They are intended to be a one-stop set of guidelines that can be used by designers and developers. 4.2) Indicators with Comparative Scoring Companies that are interested in scoring product should utilize the indicators.moderate environmental and sustainability knowledge and experience is recommended to utilize the indicators. Indicators are performance measures, to be used to inform the people making product, material or process decisions such that environmental impacts can be considered. The Phase 1 Beta Eco Index includes three categories of indicators - Product Indicators, Facility Systems Indicators, and Footprinting Indicators as follows: Product Indicators (PI).This category of indicators is a good place to start working with the Eco Index Indicators. The Phase 1 Beta Product Indicators are grouped into the following life cycle stages: o Materials o Packaging o Product Manufacturing & Assembly o Use and Service o End of Life

5 Facility Systems Indicators (FS).These indicators are for facilities within a product s supply chain and can be applied to the following three lifecycle stages: o Materials o Packaging o Product Manufacturing & Assembly Guidance for using these FS indicators in the three life cycle stages: Materials- Companies should strive to collect systems information from facilities associated with 95% of the materials found in the product by weight. If a single material is being scored rather than a full product, then the indicators apply to that single material. Packaging - Companies should strive to collect systems information from at least the first level of packaging supplier facility(ies) associated with the packaging. Product Manufacturing & Assembly - Companies should strive to collect systems information from at least the first level of product assembly and construction facility(ies) associated with the product. Footprinting Indicators (FI). The four product footprinting indicators are based on the use of environmental footprint metrics and include: o GHG Emissions Indicator o Energy Use Indicator o Water Withdrawal Indicator o Waste Indicator For many companies utilizing the Product Footprinting Metrics & Methodologies will be aspirational and may not immediately be within reach.moderate to advanced environmental footprinting knowledge and experience is recommended to utilize the metrics. It is recognized that a larger degree of supply chain engagement is required to utilize the metrics. Footprinting indicators are intended to encourage companies to strive towards environmental product and material footprinting in order to establish a baseline that will determine current performance. Additionally, the information will allow for benchmarking performance to better identify areas where companies are performing well and where improvements can be made. Footprinting indicators also provide linkage between the metrics & methodologies and the indicators within the Eco Index. Companies are not scored on the metric value that they calculate using the methodology; however, companies will be able to earn points for attempting the Eco Index methodologies for their company s products and intermediate products, including packaging. Section 4.3: Indicator Score Matrix Each indicator has a maximum score. Within each product lifecycle stage and indicator category the scores for individual indicators are summed together and are displayed as a percentage (total points achieved divided by total available points times 100 (see table below). By converting these scores to a percentage, the total point distribution between the various indicator groups is leveled out. For this Beta Phase 1 rollout, the indicator scores will be presented as shown below - a percentage score is assigned for each lifecycle stage and indicator category of the product. The percentage scores will not be rolled-up into an overall product score the option of a total product percentage score will be explored in the Phase 2 development of the Eco Index. This also allows companies to use the indicators in a modular manner such that companies can begin by working on specific life cycle stages or categories.

6 Section 4.4 How to calculate an indicator score Use the Index There are two types of scoring schemes in the indicators; 1) progressive and 2) cumulative. 1) Progressive: For progressive scoring the product receives the score based on where a product fits in the scoring hierarchy. For example, in the Recycled Content Indicator (Materials #1), you would select the score with the post consumer recycled content percentage range that matches the material s post consumer recycled content. Therefore a material with 15% post consumer recycled content would receive one point and a material with 30% post consumer recycled content would receive two points in the scoring (see below). Post Consumer Recycled Content 0 POINTS <10% post consumer recycled 1 POINT 10-24% post consumer recycled 2 POINTS 25-49% post consumer recycled 3 POINTS 50-74% post consumer recycled 4 POINTS 75-94% post consumer recycled 6 POINTS % post consumer recycled 2) Cumulative: The second type of scoring is an accumulation of all the points that apply. For example in the Design for End of Life Indicator (End of Life #1), the points that apply to the product are added together for a total score for this indicator. A product that meets all the criteria in the End of Life indicator would receive a cumulative total of eight points (see below). Designers and developers have applied product design and construction techniques to integrate end of life as a design standard for each point below AND have documented the following: 1 POINT The product is designed to minimize the number of different materials for which it is made. 2 POINTS The product is designed to be easily disassembled into reusable and/or recyclable material streams. 2 POINTS The product is designed for recycling, and materials that would disrupt or contaminate the recycling stream are not used in the product. 2 POINTS The product is designed to be reused, refilled or repurposed at EOL. 1 POINT The product is designed to eliminate the release of chemicals of concern at EOL (during recycling, waste to energy, biodegradation, etc.). Some indicators have multiple scoring sections. In those cases the total score for the indicator is the sum of the scores in each section.

7 Scoring of Materials Indicators: When using the material indicators to score a product with multiple materials: The material indicator score is calculated by taking a weighted average of the indicator score of each material in the product. This applies to all the material indicators except for the Chemical Responsibility Indicator. For the Chemical Responsible Indicator, the product receives the score of the lowest scoring material in the product. Scoring of Packaging Indicators: Packaging indicator scores for transport packaging and for retail packaging are kept separate from each other and do not roll up into one packaging score. This means that the retail packaging receives its own score and the transport packaging receives its own score. When using the packaging indicators to score a packaging unit with multiple materials: The packaging indicator score is calculated by taking a weighted average of the indicator score of each packaging material in the packaging. Indicator answer is Not Known : If the indicator answer is Not Known for a product, material, packaging or facility than that item must be assigned the lowest score possible for the indicator (0 or -1) Indicator is Not Applicable : During the Beta piloting stage a structure, list of questions, and decision tree will be developed to determine if an indicator is not applicable in specific situations. It will include information on how to determine if an indicator is not applicable and in which situations that would be the case. Please do not select Not Applicable if you do not understand the indicator or do not have sufficient information. In these situations, your answer would be Not Known and the lowest score possible would be assigned for the indicator. Section 4.5 Environmental Footprint Metrics Metrics are for those companies that are ready to begin product footprinting.moderate to advanced environmental footprinting knowledge and experience is recommended to utilize the metrics. It is recognized that a larger degree of supply chain engagement is required to utilize the metrics. Environmental Footprint Metrics are units of measure, and include an industry wide common methodology of calculating the metric and collecting the data. The intention of these metrics is that they be used to assess environment impact across the entire life cycle of a finished product and measure improvement. Where appropriate, the methodologies references existing tools and standards. The Phase 1 Beta Eco Index includes the following product footprinting metrics and methodologies, and an accompanying data collection tool to use with suppliers: Energy Use & GHG Emissions Water Withdrawal Waste It is important to note that the overall scope of the Eco Index project expands on the Product Footprinting Metrics & Methodologies creating structure for all supply chain members to ultimately provide their primary data in an ongoing manner. Most life cycle methodologies are tailored to measuring a product s impact at a single point in time with a combination of primary and secondary data. The Eco Index expands upon typical life cycle boundaries by allowing for continual reporting of primary data throughout the supply chain. In doing so, the Eco Index can be used as a supply chain design and management tool. Some use of secondary data will be necessary at the onset in order to provide a complete supply chain view but this need is anticipated to diminish over time. For many companies utilizing the Product Footprinting Metrics & Methodologies is aspirational and may not immediately be within reach. However, as organizations gain experience with using the Eco Index methodologies they will gain expertise which in turn will encourage additional product specific application of

8 the recommended methodology. Over time, this will lead to more rigorous measurement of environmental performance. Therefore, although the highest level of environmental performance measurement may not be within an organization s immediate reach, continually improving the accuracy of performance measurements, by using the Eco Index and gaining experience with it, is integral to improving companies environmental performance. Guidance on use of and resources for secondary data If primary data cannot be obtained either for downstream activities or upstream, secondary data may be used. Where secondary data is used, those arising from peer reviewed publications and from competent sources (governments, United Nations supported organizations) shall be preferred over data from other sources. A listing of data sources can be found at the website: Additional sources pertaining to water can be found at the USDA Economics and Statistics webpage: 6A68. Additional sources pertaining to waste can be found on the US EPA webpage: