Cradle to Cradle Certified^TM

The Cradle to Cradle CertifiedTM Product Standard supports designers and producers through a continuous improvement procedure. This procedure consists of five quality categories – material health, material reutilization, renewable energy and carbon management, water stewardship and social fairness. A product gets a certain level for each category – Basic, Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum. The lowest level determines the overall score of the product.

What makes a product sustainable?

Material health

Identify each material and chemical component of your product and optimize the impact of these materials on human health and the environment.

Determine collectively with the C2C platform the complete composition of your product.
Work together with your suppliers to list each material and chemical component.
Internationally renowned specialists in human toxicity and ecology analysis such as Arche, EPEA or MBDC analyse these ingredients.
Optimize, based on this knowledge, the composition of your product.

Material Reutilization

Design products based on materials that can live on in closed circuits.

Maximize the percentage of renewable materials or recycled materials in a product.
Maximize the percentage of materials that can be reused, recycled or composted safely at the end of the product life cycle.
Optimize your product for a technical or biological cycle.

Renewable energies and CO2 emissions

Concentrate on a future in which all production is fuelled by 100% clean, renewable energy.

Use renewable energy and offset carbon emissions during production.

Water Stewardship

Clean water is a precious resource and an essential human right.

Manage your local impact on water through your industrial activities.
Identify, evaluate and optimize all your industrial chemicals in the effluent of your production facility.

Social Fairness

Design production processes and operations that have a positive impact on all people and natural systems that are influenced by the creation, use, dismissal and reuse of your product.

Evaluate social factors in your value chain using world-class systems and audits by third parties.
Make a positive difference in the lives of employees and the local community.

Cradle to Cradle Criteria

Criteria are set for each level – Basic, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. The higher the level, the more severe the criteria. The lowest level obtained determines the overall score of the product.

	List all the raw materials of your product in a material sheet (Bill of Materials or BoM table) Have each supplier sign a declaration that no unwanted chemicals have been added to the raw materials.
	Define each generic material as a part of a biological or technical cycle.
	Calculate the electricity consumption during the production process. Calculate direct on-site CO2 emissions (scope 1) during the production process.
	Prove that there has been no significant violation of the discharge permit in the past two years. Identify the impact of your production site on the local aquatic environment. Report on water management and address identified water-related impacts.
	Evaluate through self-assessment the protection of basic human rights to your production site (s) and to your direct suppliers. Develop management procedures to resolve any identified problems.

	List all the raw materials of your product in a material sheet (Bill of Materials or BoM table). Have each supplier sign a declaration that no unwanted chemicals have been added to the raw materials. Involve your supplier to determine at least 75% of all ingredients at the chemical level. Analyze these ingredients for human and ecological toxicity. Products included in the life cycle (eg Cosmetics, soaps, detergents …) are 100% analyzed. Develop a strategy to replace or optimize toxic chemicals.
	Calculate the cycle score based on the percentage of recyclable or compostable materials and the proportion of recycled or renewable materials. The cycle score is ≥ 35.
	Calculate the electricity consumption during the production process. Calculate direct on-site CO2 emissions (scope 1) during the production process. Develop a strategy for the use of renewable energies and the reduction of CO2 impact.
	Prove that there has been no significant violation of the discharge permit in the past two years. Identify the impact of your production site on the local aquatic environment. Conduct a state of water management and address the identified impacts related to water. Perform an integral water audit.
	Assess through self-assessment the protection of fundamental human rights in their own production and direct suppliers. Develop management procedures to solve identified problems.

	List all the raw materials of your product in a material sheet (Bill of Materials or BoM table). Have each supplier sign a declaration that no unwanted chemicals have been added to the raw materials. Involve your supplier to determine at least 95% of all ingredients at the chemical level. Analyze these ingredients for human and ecological toxicity. Products included in the life cycle (eg Cosmetics, soaps, detergents …) are 100% analyzed. Develop a strategy to replace or optimize toxic chemicals.
	Calculate the cycle score based on the percentage of recyclable or compostable materials and the proportion of recycled or renewable materials. The cycle score is ≥ 50.
	Calculate the electricity consumption during the production process. Calculate direct on-site CO2 emissions (scope 1) during the production process. Develop a strategy for the use of renewable energies and the reduction of CO2 impact. Use ≥ 5% of renewable electricity or offset support for renewable energy projects. Compensate ≥ 5% of direct CO2 emissions.
	Prove that there has been no significant violation of the discharge permit in the past two years. Identify the impact of your production site on the local aquatic environment. Conduct a state of water management and address the identified impacts related to water. Perform an integral water audit. Identify all chemicals in the effluents associated with the product. Demonstrate the progress in your strategy to improve water-related impacts in the chain (in case your production facilities do not produce relevant effluents).
	Assess through self-assessment the protection of fundamental human rights in their own production and direct suppliers. Develop management procedures to solve identified problems. Fulfil at least one of the following criteria: Obtain a material or problem-related certificate (eg FSC, fair trade, etc.) for at least 25% of the product’s materials. OR study the value chain on social problems and develop a positive impact strategy. OR implement a social project that has a positive impact on your employees, your community or your social aspects in the product.

	List all the raw materials of your product in a material sheet (Bill of Materials or BoM table). Have each supplier sign a declaration that no unwanted chemicals have been added to the raw materials. Ask your supplier to set 100% of all ingredients at the chemical level. Analyze all ingredients for human and ecological toxicity. None of the ingredients contains toxic chemicals. The product complies with the C2C emission standard.
	Calculate the cycle score based on the percentage of recyclable or compostable materials and the proportion of recycled or renewable materials. The cycle score is ≥ 65. Create a policy to close the cycle.
	Calculate the electricity consumption during the production process. Calculate direct on-site CO2 emissions (scope 1) during the production process. Develop a strategy for the use of renewable energies and the reduction of CO2 impact. Use ≥ 50% of renewable electricity or offset support for renewable energy projects. Compensate ≥ 50% of direct CO2 emissions.
	Prove that there has been no significant violation of the discharge permit in the past two years. Identify the impact of your production site on the local aquatic environment. Stel een verklaring van waterbeheer op en pak de geïdentificeerde water gerelateerde impacten aan. Perform an integral water audit. Optimize all chemicals in the process that are present in the effluent. Demonstrate progress in your strategy to improve water-related impacts in the chain (if your production facilities do not produce relevant effluents).
	Assess through self-assessment the protection of fundamental human rights in their own production and direct suppliers. Develop management procedures to solve identified problems. Fulfil at least two of the following criteria: Obtain a material or problem-related certificate (eg FSC, fair trade, etc.) for at least 25% of the product’s materials. Study the value chain on social problems and develop a positive impact strategy. Implement a social project that has a positive impact on your employees, your community or your social aspects in the product.

	List all the raw materials of your product in a material sheet (Bill of Materials or BoM table). Have each supplier sign a statement that no unwanted chemicals have been added to the raw materials. Mapping, in collaboration with your supplier, 100% of all ingredients at the chemical level. All of these ingredients should be analyzed for human and ecological toxicity. None of the ingredients contain toxic chemicals. The product complies with the C2C emission standard. Also list all process chemicals. These are analyzed and are not toxic.
	Calculate the cycle score based on the percentage of recyclable or compostable materials and the proportion of recycled or renewable materials. The cycle score is 100. Ensure that the technical or biological cycle is closed.
	Calculate the electricity consumption during the production process. Calculate direct on-site CO2 emissions (scope 1) during the production process. Use> 100% renewable electricity or offset by support for renewable energy projects. Compensate > 100% of direct CO2 emissions (scope 1). Calculate the indirect energy consumption of your product and develop an optimization strategy. Compensate or optimize ≥ 5% of indirect energy consumption.
	Prove that there has been no significant violation of the discharge permit in the past two years. Identify the impact of your production site on the local aquatic environment. Conduct a state of water management and address the identified impacts related to water. Perform an integral water audit. Optimize all chemicals in effluent. Show progress on the strategy developed to improve water-related impacts (if your production facilities do not produce relevant effluents). The effluent from the production site complies with drinking water quality standards.
	Assess through self-assessment the protection of fundamental human rights in their own production and direct suppliers. Develop management procedures to solve identified problems. Fulfil all the following conditions: Obtain a material or problem-related certificate (eg FSC, fair trade, etc.) for at least 25% of the product’s materials. Study the value chain on social problems and develop a positive impact strategy. Implement a social project that has a positive impact on your employees, your community or your social aspects in the product. Check your production site by a third party according to an internationally recognized social norm (eg SA8000 standard or B-Corp).

Cradle to Cradle CertifiedTM