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2 Industry and Associations Initiatives
2.1 Together for Sustainability (TfS)
Several initiatives of industries and associations have been founded with the goal, to
implement sustainability principles in supply chains and to improve product applications. There are well defi ned networks exchanging general information but as
well industrial collaboration networks exchanging and offering LCI information to
calculate complete LCA studies.
A good example for initiating a general information platform to improve sustainability is a new initiative of the chemical industry, the “Together for Sustainability”
platform, where chemical companies work together for improving sustainability in
their supply chain. As multinational leading companies, chemical companies strive
for a sustainable development and support the principles of the United Nations
Global Compact and Responsible Care. The companies take responsibility for their
own operations and in the sphere of their infl uence for our supply chains to support
adherence to existing regulations and to respond to the needs and expectations of
consumers and society. To use resources more effi ciently and reduce the bureaucratic burden for suppliers, the participating companies share supplier sustainability
assessment and audit data.
Within the TfS assessment as well as audit, the supplier’s sustainability performance is verifi ed against a pre-defi ned set of audit criteria. These topics have been
defi ned by TfS and are tailored to the requirements of the chemical industry.
Benefi ts for the companies but as well for other players in the supply chain are
seen in avoiding double audits and assessments, improvement and assurance of
quality of assessment and audit results. Sharing of assessment and audit results with
multiple customers on one platform, high quality through selected and qualifi ed
partners are additional benefi ts. Engaging with customers on sustainability requirements and challenges for building up long-term business relationships will be a
positive outcome as well as lowering risks in relation to sustainability requirements.
Knowing sustainability performance allows to improve performance (TfS 2012 ,
2015 ). This can be achieved additionally by calculating facts about products and
their precursors with an LCA approach to generate detailed information.
One example for a cross sector initiative is the econsense network. The goal of
this initiative is an open dialogue, the members of econsense strive to further
advance the implementation of economic, social and ecological objectives, with the
awareness that business with strengths in innovation and investment also assumes
certain responsibility for the success of sustainable development. At the same time,
companies can only discern their corporate social responsibility when supportive
and reliable political framework conditions offer them a sound environment. The
objectives of econsense are:
• To pool corporate activities on sustainability topics, such as climate protection
and demographic change, and to jointly further develop these projects
• To actively shape the political and social discourse
• To credibly communicate the solution competence of the economy
P. Saling
2 Industry and Associations Initiatives
2.1 Together for Sustainability (TfS)
Several initiatives of industries and associations have been founded with the goal, to
implement sustainability principles in supply chains and to improve product applications. There are well defi ned networks exchanging general information but as
well industrial collaboration networks exchanging and offering LCI information to
calculate complete LCA studies.
A good example for initiating a general information platform to improve sustainability is a new initiative of the chemical industry, the “Together for Sustainability”
platform, where chemical companies work together for improving sustainability in
their supply chain. As multinational leading companies, chemical companies strive
for a sustainable development and support the principles of the United Nations
Global Compact and Responsible Care. The companies take responsibility for their
own operations and in the sphere of their infl uence for our supply chains to support
adherence to existing regulations and to respond to the needs and expectations of
consumers and society. To use resources more effi ciently and reduce the bureaucratic burden for suppliers, the participating companies share supplier sustainability
assessment and audit data.
Within the TfS assessment as well as audit, the supplier’s sustainability performance is verifi ed against a pre-defi ned set of audit criteria. These topics have been
defi ned by TfS and are tailored to the requirements of the chemical industry.
Benefi ts for the companies but as well for other players in the supply chain are
seen in avoiding double audits and assessments, improvement and assurance of
quality of assessment and audit results. Sharing of assessment and audit results with
multiple customers on one platform, high quality through selected and qualifi ed
partners are additional benefi ts. Engaging with customers on sustainability requirements and challenges for building up long-term business relationships will be a
positive outcome as well as lowering risks in relation to sustainability requirements.
Knowing sustainability performance allows to improve performance (TfS 2012 ,
2015 ). This can be achieved additionally by calculating facts about products and
their precursors with an LCA approach to generate detailed information.
One example for a cross sector initiative is the econsense network. The goal of
this initiative is an open dialogue, the members of econsense strive to further
advance the implementation of economic, social and ecological objectives, with the
awareness that business with strengths in innovation and investment also assumes
certain responsibility for the success of sustainable development. At the same time,
companies can only discern their corporate social responsibility when supportive
and reliable political framework conditions offer them a sound environment. The
objectives of econsense are:
• To pool corporate activities on sustainability topics, such as climate protection
and demographic change, and to jointly further develop these projects
• To actively shape the political and social discourse
• To credibly communicate the solution competence of the economy
P. Saling