How we score
Every product carries one number out of 100. It is worked out the same way for everyone, from data the supplier gives us and evidence we check, and it is stored on the product so you are comparing like with like.
The five pillars
Each pillar is scored out of 100 on its own, then weighted. A pillar with no data at all scores zero rather than being left out, so a product that tells us nothing cannot look better than one that does.
Material
30%Recycled and renewable content overlap in practice, so the higher of the two leads and the other tops up. A single-material item earns extra because it can actually be separated; hazardous additives take a chunk off.
End of life
30%A product scores on its best realistic route, not its longest list. If the route is not available in the country the buyer is in, it is worth half.
Certifications
20%Only certificates that are still in date count, and one per scheme, so renewals cannot be stacked. A certificate that expires drops the score without anyone editing the product.
Carbon and transport
10%Up to 70 points for a reported footprint per unit, where 1 kg CO₂e or more scores nothing, and up to 30 for producing within 500 km of the buyer, falling to nothing beyond 3,000 km. Most suppliers report neither, which is why this pillar is small.
Supplier practices
10%Four company-wide practices, 25 points each. This is about the company behind the product rather than the product itself.
Checked, or just claimed
A claim the supplier has made and we have not yet verified counts at 50% of its value. Verifying it means someone here has seen the evidence behind it: a certificate, a test report, a recycling scheme confirmation. Product pages label every pillar either way, so you can see which part of a score is checked.
Alongside the score we show data completeness: how many of the five pillars carry any data at all. A high score on thin data is a different thing from a high score on full data, and the two numbers together say which you are looking at.
What each end-of-life route is worth
Before availability in the buyer’s country is taken into account, out of 100:
- Reusable
- 100
- Home compostable
- 85
- Widely recyclable
- 80
- Industrially compostable
- 60
- Landfill only
- 0
Reuse beats composting, composting at home beats composting in an industrial plant the buyer may have no access to, and landfill is worth nothing.
What each certification is worth
Schemes that cover a whole product system are worth more than those covering a single input. Points add up across schemes and are capped at 100:
- Cradle to Cradle
- 45
- EU Ecolabel
- 40
- FSC
- 30
- OK compost HOME
- 30
- PEFC
- 25
- OK compost INDUSTRIAL
- 20
- BPI
- 20
The supplier practices we count
- ISO 14001
- A managed environmental system, audited by a third party
- B Corp
- Certified on social and environmental performance as a whole company
- Science-based targets
- Emissions targets validated against a warming pathway
- Take-back programme
- Collects its own packaging back from buyers
What the score is not
It is not a pass mark and not a certification of our own. It is a consistent reading of the data we hold, which is better at telling two products apart than at telling you a single product is good. It says nothing about price, print quality, or whether a supplier is pleasant to work with.
If you think a score is wrong, it is usually because the data behind it is thin or out of date. Tell us which product and we will go back to the supplier.
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