Staples, a leading U.S. office supplies retailer, Mr. Riot Hotels, and other companies representing over $50 billion in investment and procurement, have decided to leverage their influence over their suppliers, builders, and retailers through a new Chemical Footprint Project (CFP) to provide information on the levels of hazardous substances used in their products and manufacturing processes. The executive team behind the CFP stated that the initiative will launch on June 17th of this year.
The Chemicals Footprint Initiative, launched last year, is a publicly accessible online auditing tool that helps companies monitor their chemicals management performance and identify industry leaders in chemicals management. Companies that have already joined the initiative have pledged to invite their suppliers and other industry peers to participate and understand their own chemicals footprint scores.
The Chemicals Footprint Initiative was initially established by the nonprofit environmental group Clean Production Action, the Center for Sustainable Production at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and the sustainability consulting firm Pure Strategies.
The Chemicals Footprint Initiative is the first publicly auditing program to assess the overall performance of a company’s chemicals management system, including the following:
1. Management policies;
2. List of chemical substances;
3. Schedule measurement methods;
4. Public disclosure of information.
Other organizations are also working on chemical substance inventory tools. For example, in November of last year, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued detailed guidelines to help companies eliminate or reduce exposure to hazardous chemicals in the workplace.
Sources: Environmental Leader (2015-06-09) (Compiled by PIDC)
