We express a multi-facetted issue — the sustainability of a product — in a clear and accurate numeric value where 100 is given to the most sustainable, down to 0 for the least.
In brief, here’s our process:
ESG Score covers official sustainability goals on social and environmental compatibility as well as governance. These are defined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in the EU Taxonomy Regulation.
Each product’s sustainability footprint is measured against these goals, including category specific footprints which depend on what is in the products. For instance: substances like cadmium; risks such as the probability of forced labor; characteristics like repairability.
The results are captured in inventory lists and define how our scorings are weighted.
After analysing more than 5,000 chapters of Type I sustainability labels, we distilled a meta catalog of, currently, 1,300 category specific requirements and metrics. Type I certifiers like Blue Angel qualify by meeting the requirements of ISO 14024. These represent the gold standard.
Our scores cover metrics like carbon footprints and the share of recycled content. They also take into account the fulfillment of product and manufacturer related requirements, from toxic contents to workers’ health and safety.
Based on our scoring criteria we integrate selected data and generate sustainability profiles. As of July 2024, we have scores for over 100,000 Type I certified products across 24 product categories. This number is growing rapidly.
Taking our product profiles, we calculate and update category specific rankings weekly to reach the most up-to-date ESG Score. The highest ranked product gets an ESG Score of 100. Followers get correspondingly lower scores.
Please note: Rank 1 can result from being the “least bad” product without being absolutely sustainable. This best-in-class approach has been chosen after intense discussions with independent experts and leading institutes.
To provide complete transparency for each scored product we publish extensive details on the data used as well as on the score's calculation.
Our scoring parameters are reviewed and audited by independent institutes who also have the final say on weighting. This means you can rely on ESG Score to be correct and precise.