|
Green Seal, the independent green certifying organization, is piloting a Company Certification Program that provides a holistic assessment of a company's product line and business operations.
The program is the first and only of its kind, Green Seal says. It is designed to enable manufacturers to prove their sustainability claims to customers and stockholders.
The program, which "rewards the highest levels of environmental performance and leadership," builds on Green Seal's development of 30 environmental standards and certification of over 3,500 green products and services since the organization was founded in 1989.
The pilot program will certify companies as a whole based on their commitment to environmentally sound business practices and sustainable products. Recognition of environmental leadership - at Gold, Silver and Bronze levels - will be based on corporate-wide practices and environmental impacts, third-party environmental certification of the company's products, and life-cycle assessment of the company's key product lines.
Green Seal will factor in greenhouse gas emissions, water conservation, biodiversity impact and labor relations, among other requirements.
"Today's green-savvy consumers are increasingly wary of corporate greenwashing and are looking for proof that companies and their products are as green as they say they are," said Arthur Weissman, Ph.D., president and CEO of Green Seal. "Our pilot Company Certification
Program makes green corporate claims credible and provides real marketing power as manufacturers brand themselves in a sustainability-minded marketplace."
Green Seal called the program "a significant leap forward in green product certification programs by assessing entire companies rather than assessing one product at a time."
Certification will involve teams of independent experts doing onsite inspections and life-cycle assessments of the company's supply chain and major products. The teams will also consider social and environmental impact studies.
More information is available at www.greenseal.org.
|
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook
