New Metrics

12 Industry Leaders Unveil Methodology for Assessing Social Impacts of Products

A group of companies united in the Roundtable for Product Social Metrics today announces the publication of the Handbook for Product Social Impact Assessment, a practical tool for assessing a product’s social impacts throughout its life cycle. The handbook is the result of a unique collaborative effort of a group of market leaders across a variety of industries.

By Sustainable Brands | Published 10 years ago | About a 3 minute read

“Stakeholders increasingly demand transparency about the social impacts of products,” says João Fontes of consulting firm PRé Sustainability, spokesperson for the Roundtable.

As supply chains and product life cycles span the world, businesses need a practical, reliable way to systematically analyze risks and identify improvement opportunities.

The First Practical, Objective Methodology for Product Social Impact Assessment

As large, multinational organizations, the Roundtable participants — Ahold, AkzoNobel, BASF, BMW Group, DSM, L’Oréal, Marks & Spencer, Philips, RB, Steelcase, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, and a chemical company led by PRé Sustainability — understand the need for a social impact assessment method that is capable of screening a product’s entire supply chain across continents and throughout its life cycle.

“Research on consumer preferences, like the Nielsen Global Survey on Corporate Social Responsibility, shows that half of the world’s consumers are prepared to pay a premium if products have an ecological or social benefit,” says Jacobine Das Gupta, Corporate Sustainability Manager for DSM.

The handbook is a starting point for any business wanting to differentiate and create value through social impact assessment. Pilots conducted by the Roundtable participants have shown the method to be comprehensible, reliable, and applicable in a day-to-day business context.

“This method is a first step towards measurable social sustainability at a product level, and the Roundtable will continue to refine it in Phase III,” says Dave Woodyard, Global Manager of Environmental Sustainability for The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.

The Handbook for Product Social Impact Assessment is available for free download now, allowing sustainability professionals in all industries to get started on product social impact assessments today. The Roundtable says it will now focus on Phase III of the project: finding solutions for cross-cutting implementation issues, exchanging experiences with other practitioners and experts, and continuing to improve the methodology. The Roundtable participants invite interested industry companies to join the group and collaborate in Phase III.

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