Together for Sustainability (TfS): A Practical Guide for Chemical Companies and Suppliers
Sustainability is increasingly influencing how chemical companies evaluate suppliers, manage supply-chain risks and make procurement decisions. Customers are looking beyond policies and commitments and increasingly expect suppliers to demonstrate how environmental, social, ethical and supply-chain requirements are implemented, monitored and continuously improved.
Together for Sustainability (TfS) provides a collaborative approach to addressing these expectations across the chemical industry.
By bringing chemical companies and suppliers together around common approaches to sustainability assessments, audits, corrective actions, capacity building, Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) data, TfS helps create greater consistency across increasingly complex global chemical supply chains.
For suppliers, this means that sustainability should no longer be approached simply as a questionnaire to complete when requested by a customer. It is increasingly becoming a business capability supported by policies, processes, evidence, performance data and continuous improvement.
What Is Together for Sustainability (TfS)?
Together for Sustainability (TfS) is a global, member-led initiative established to accelerate sustainable and resilient chemical supply chains.
Rather than individual buyers developing completely separate sustainability expectations for their suppliers, TfS promotes common approaches for assessing, verifying and improving sustainability performance.
Its activities address areas such as:
- Environmental management
- Health and safety
- Labour and human rights
- Ethics and responsible business conduct
- Sustainable supply chains
- Supplier development
- Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions
- Product Carbon Footprint data
The underlying principle is straightforward:
Sustainable supply chains can improve more effectively when buyers and suppliers work with common expectations, methodologies and improvement mechanisms rather than responding repeatedly to disconnected customer requirements.
This is particularly relevant to the chemical industry, where value chains may involve raw-material suppliers, manufacturers, processors, distributors, service providers and customers operating across multiple countries.
Why Was TfS Created?
Chemical companies often operate highly complex global supply chains.
A large organization may work with hundreds or thousands of suppliers, while individual suppliers may simultaneously receive sustainability questionnaires, audits and information requests from multiple customers.
Without coordination, this can lead to:
- Repeated sustainability questionnaires
- Duplicate audits
- Different assessment methodologies
- Higher administrative effort
- Inconsistent supplier information
- Difficulty comparing sustainability performance
- Limited visibility into upstream sustainability risks
TfS was created to help address these challenges through collaboration, harmonization and continuous improvement.
Its approach combines supplier assessments, audits, Corrective Action Plans (CAPs), training, capacity building and industry guidance. TfS also addresses upstream greenhouse gas emissions and Product Carbon Footprint information, reflecting the increasing connection between supply-chain sustainability and corporate climate strategies.
The objective is therefore not simply to assign a sustainability score.
The broader objective is to support measurable and continuous sustainability improvement across the chemical value chain.
How Does the TfS Approach Work?
The TfS approach can broadly be understood through four connected activities:
1. Measure
Companies and suppliers evaluate sustainability performance using structured and standardized approaches.
2. Identify Gaps
Assessment and audit results help identify weaknesses in policies, management systems, implementation, controls or sustainability performance.
3. Improve
Corrective Action Plans and other improvement mechanisms help suppliers systematically address identified gaps.
4. Collaborate
Sustainability information, knowledge and common tools can be used within the TfS ecosystem to reduce unnecessary duplication and focus resources on meaningful improvement.
This approach makes TfS relevant not only to sustainability professionals but also to Procurement, EHS, Human Resources, Compliance, Legal, Operations and senior management.
What Is a TfS Assessment?
A TfS Assessment is a questionnaire-based evaluation of an organization's sustainability management and performance.
The process goes beyond sustainability statements and requires organizations to provide supporting documentation and evidence.
The assessment methodology considers sustainability areas such as:
- Environment
- Labour and human rights
- Ethics
- Sustainable procurement and supply-chain management
The TfS assessment process is conducted through its assessment partner, EcoVadis.
The questionnaire is adapted according to relevant factors such as the organization's size, country and business sector. Suppliers provide information and supporting evidence, which is then evaluated.
This evidence-based approach is important because:
Having a policy demonstrates commitment. Evidence demonstrates whether that commitment has actually been implemented.
For example:
Basic evidence:
“We are committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
Stronger evidence may include:
- Approved climate or GHG policy
- Organizational GHG inventory
- Emission-reduction targets
- Documented action plans
- Energy and fuel consumption data
- Defined performance indicators
- Periodic monitoring
- Evidence of implemented reduction initiatives
The second approach provides a much clearer picture of the maturity of an organization's sustainability management system.
What Does a TfS Assessment Evaluate?
Suppliers should approach the TfS Assessment as an evaluation of their broader sustainability management system rather than simply a questionnaire-completion exercise.
Environment
Relevant evidence may include:
- Environmental policies
- Energy management
- Greenhouse gas emissions
- Waste management
- Water management
- Pollution prevention
- Environmental compliance
- Resource efficiency
- Environmental targets and improvement programmes
Labour and Human Rights
Relevant areas may include:
- Working conditions
- Occupational health and safety
- Labour rights
- Forced and compulsory labour
- Child labour
- Non-discrimination
- Employee welfare
- Human rights management
- Grievance mechanisms
Ethics
Potential areas may include:
- Anti-corruption
- Business ethics
- Compliance
- Whistleblowing mechanisms
- Responsible business conduct
- Management accountability
- Employee awareness and training
Sustainable Procurement and Supply Chain
This becomes particularly important for organizations purchasing significant quantities of raw materials, products or services.
Relevant controls may include:
- Supplier sustainability requirements
- Supplier Code of Conduct
- Supplier screening
- Sustainability due diligence
- Supplier assessments
- Risk-based supplier audits
- Responsible sourcing
- Corrective actions
- Supply-chain risk management
The exact requirements and evidence expectations depend on the organization's assessment context and profile. Suppliers should therefore avoid treating any generic checklist as a substitute for the actual questionnaire applicable to their organization.
TfS Assessment Process: Step by Step
The assessment process can broadly be understood through five stages.
Step 1: Registration
A supplier may be invited by a TfS member to participate in an assessment. TfS also provides mechanisms for supplier participation within its programme.
Step 2: Data Collection
The organization completes the applicable questionnaire and provides supporting documents.
This is often where organizations encounter their first significant challenge.
The problem is not always that sustainability activities do not exist. In many cases, practices have already been implemented, but the organization cannot readily locate sufficient documented evidence to demonstrate them.
Step 3: Analysis
Submitted information and evidence are reviewed as part of the assessment process.
Publicly available sustainability information may also be relevant to the assessment. Organizations should therefore ensure consistency between internal records, policies, websites, sustainability reports and other public statements.
Step 4: Results
The supplier receives a scorecard presenting its sustainability performance, strengths and potential improvement areas.
Step 5: Corrective Action and Improvement
Where gaps or improvement opportunities are identified, appropriate corrective actions can be established.
This is where the assessment moves beyond evaluation and becomes a mechanism for continuous improvement.
TfS Assessment vs. TfS Audit
Although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, a TfS Assessment and a TfS Audit serve different purposes.
| Area | TfS Assessment | TfS Audit |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Questionnaire-based | Audit-based |
| Main focus | Company sustainability management | Site-level sustainability practices |
| Evidence | Documentary evidence | Documentary evidence + on-site/remote verification |
| Auditor | Assessment conducted through TfS partner | Approved external auditor |
| Interviews | Not the central feature | Employee interviews included |
| Scope | Company assessment | One or more business locations |
| Outcome | Scorecard and improvement areas | Audit findings and corrective actions |
A TfS Audit therefore provides deeper verification of how sustainability requirements are implemented in practice.
The audit may examine areas such as:
- Management
- Environment
- Health and Safety
- Labour and Human Rights
- Governance
In practical terms, the assessment primarily evaluates sustainability management through questionnaire responses and supporting evidence, while the audit provides deeper verification of implementation and actual practices.
What Is a Corrective Action Plan (CAP)?
A Corrective Action Plan (CAP) is a structured mechanism for addressing gaps identified through an assessment or audit.
A strong CAP should clearly establish:
1. What is the identified gap?
2. Why did the gap occur?
3. What correction or corrective action is required?
4. Who is responsible?
5. What is the target completion date?
6. What evidence will demonstrate completion?
7. How will effectiveness be verified?
For example:
Finding: No documented supplier sustainability screening process.
Root Cause: Sustainability criteria have not been formally incorporated into the existing supplier evaluation process.
Corrective Action: Develop and implement supplier sustainability screening covering relevant ESG and sustainability risk criteria.
Owner: Procurement and Sustainability Teams
Evidence: Approved procedure, revised supplier evaluation criteria, completed supplier screening records and implementation evidence.
Target Date: Defined based on risk, priority and organizational requirements.
A finding should therefore not automatically be viewed as a failure.
A strong sustainability management system demonstrates that gaps can be identified, understood, corrected, monitored and prevented from recurring.
CAPs can therefore become an important mechanism for constructive dialogue and continuous improvement between suppliers and customers.
What Is the Role of EcoVadis in TfS?
EcoVadis plays an important role within the TfS supplier assessment model.
TfS uses EcoVadis as its sustainability assessment partner, and applicable sustainability scorecards can be shared within the TfS network under relevant sharing arrangements.
For suppliers, this creates an important practical benefit.
Rather than treating every customer request as a completely independent exercise, sustainability assessment information can potentially support multiple customer relationships within the applicable TfS framework.
It also means that suppliers should avoid preparing solely for one customer's questionnaire.
The stronger approach is to establish a sustainability management system capable of demonstrating credible performance to multiple customers and stakeholders.
TfS and Scope 3 Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions are generally categorized into three scopes.
Scope 1 covers direct GHG emissions from sources owned or controlled by an organization.
Scope 2 covers indirect emissions associated with purchased energy.
Scope 3 covers other indirect emissions occurring across an organization's value chain, including relevant upstream and downstream activities.
For many chemical companies, a significant portion of the overall climate footprint may sit outside their own facilities, making reliable supplier and value-chain information increasingly important.
TfS has developed an industry-wide programme addressing Scope 3 GHG emissions and harmonized approaches to upstream emissions information.
For chemical manufacturers, this creates a direct connection between supplier data and corporate climate strategy.
Better supplier data can help organizations:
- Improve Scope 3 GHG inventories
- Identify emission hotspots
- Understand carbon-intensive materials and activities
- Identify emission-reduction opportunities
- Support procurement decisions
- Engage suppliers on decarbonization
- Improve product-level carbon transparency
This is why sustainability assessments and carbon accounting are increasingly interconnected.
Procurement may require supplier sustainability information.
Sustainability teams may require GHG emissions data.
Product teams may require Product Carbon Footprint information.
A mature supply-chain sustainability system should be capable of supporting all three.
TfS Product Carbon Footprint Guidelines
Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) data is becoming increasingly important across chemical value chains.
TfS has developed guidance for calculating cradle-to-gate Product Carbon Footprints for chemical products, with the objective of improving harmonization and consistency in carbon information exchanged across the industry.
This is important because differences in methodologies, system boundaries, emission factors and assumptions can produce different results even for similar products.
A harmonized approach can improve:
- Comparability
- Data consistency
- Data exchange
- Scope 3 accounting
- Supplier engagement
- Product-level emissions management
- Decarbonization decision-making
For chemical companies receiving customer requests for PCF information, the challenge is therefore not simply to calculate a number.
A credible Product Carbon Footprint should be supported by a defensible methodology, reliable activity data, appropriate emission factors, transparent assumptions and a clearly defined system boundary.
Why TfS Matters for Chemical Suppliers
Sustainability performance is increasingly becoming part of commercial competitiveness and supplier management.
Customers may want to understand:
- Is the supplier managing environmental risks?
- Are appropriate health and safety systems implemented?
- Are labour and human rights risks addressed?
- Does the organization maintain ethical business practices?
- Are sustainability risks within its own supply chain managed?
- Can the supplier provide credible emissions information?
- Are sustainability performance indicators monitored?
- Are corrective actions effectively implemented?
- Can the organization respond to evolving customer sustainability requirements?
These questions are no longer limited to sustainability departments.
They may influence:
Procurement → Supplier Selection → Risk Management → Customer Relationships → Business Continuity → Strategic Decision-Making
TfS provides a common framework through which chemical companies and suppliers can address many of these sustainability challenges.
The scale of TfS activity also demonstrates the increasing importance of supplier sustainability. TfS reported significant volumes of supplier assessments and improvement activities during 2025, reinforcing the broader movement from sustainability as a compliance exercise toward sustainability as an ongoing business capability.
How to Prepare for a TfS Assessment
Effective preparation should begin before a questionnaire or audit request arrives.
1. Establish Clear Ownership
Define responsibilities across:
- Sustainability
- EHS
- Human Resources
- Procurement
- Legal and Compliance
- Operations
- Senior Management
Sustainability assessments are cross-functional. They should not be managed by one department in isolation.
2. Conduct a Gap Assessment
Compare existing practices against relevant sustainability requirements.
Do not only ask:
“Do we have a policy?”
Also ask:
“Is the policy implemented, communicated, monitored, measured and supported by evidence?”
3. Build a Structured Evidence Library
Organize sustainability evidence by subject.
Environment
- Environmental policy
- Energy data
- GHG inventory
- Waste records
- Water data
- Environmental permits
- Environmental objectives and targets
- Improvement initiatives
Labour and Human Rights
- Human rights policy
- Labour-related policies
- Health and safety records
- Employee training
- Grievance mechanism
- Employee communication records
- Monitoring and risk assessments
Ethics
- Code of Conduct
- Anti-bribery and anti-corruption policy
- Whistleblower mechanism
- Compliance training
- nvestigation and corrective action records
Supply Chain
- Supplier Code of Conduct
- Supplier screening procedure
- Supplier sustainability due diligence
- Supplier assessments
- Supplier audit reports
- Corrective action records
4. Verify Data Consistency
Consistency is frequently overlooked.
If the sustainability report states that a programme exists, internal records should support the statement.
If an environmental policy commits to reducing emissions, the organization should be able to demonstrate actions, monitoring and results.
If GHG emissions are reported, the underlying methodology and source data should be traceable.
5. Connect Commitment, Implementation and Performance
A mature sustainability system should create a clear evidence chain:
Policy → Procedure → Implementation → Records → KPI → Monitoring → Corrective Action → Improvement
A useful principle is:
Policy demonstrates commitment.
Procedure establishes the process.
Records demonstrate implementation.
KPIs demonstrate performance.
Corrective actions demonstrate improvement.
6. Prepare for Improvement, Not Just Submission
The objective should not simply be to complete a questionnaire.
The objective should be to establish a management system that becomes stronger after every assessment and audit cycle.
Common Challenges Suppliers Face
Policies Exist, but Implementation Evidence Is Weak
Organizations may have well-written sustainability policies but insufficient records demonstrating implementation.
Sustainability Data Is Scattered
Energy information may be maintained by Facilities, workforce data by HR, supplier information by Procurement and carbon data by Sustainability.
Without coordination, preparing for an assessment can become unnecessarily difficult.
Document Ownership Is Unclear
Organizations may possess the required documents but lack defined ownership, revision controls or clarity regarding which version is current.
Carbon Data Is Not Mature
Companies may understand electricity and fuel consumption but lack a structured Scope 1, Scope 2 or Scope 3 GHG inventory.
Supplier Sustainability Is Overlooked
Organizations sometimes focus extensively on their own operations while applying limited sustainability due diligence to suppliers and contractors.
Corrective Actions Are Not Effectively Tracked
A corrective action without a responsible person, deadline, evidence and effectiveness review is difficult to close effectively.
Practical Example: Turning Findings into Improvement
Consider a chemical manufacturer supplying raw materials to several international customers.
The organization already has:
- An environmental policy
- Employee Code of Conduct
- Basic energy records
- Safety procedures
- Supplier approval processes
During TfS assessment preparation, however, several opportunities are identified.
Finding 1: No formal climate target
Action: Establish a documented GHG emissions baseline and define appropriate reduction objectives and targets.
Finding 2: Supplier sustainability is not formally evaluated
Action: Integrate ESG and sustainability criteria into supplier onboarding, due diligence and periodic supplier evaluation.
Finding 3: Environmental data is fragmented
Action: Establish a consolidated dashboard covering electricity, fuel, water, waste and GHG emissions.
Finding 4: Policies are not adequately supported by training evidence
Action: Establish periodic sustainability training and maintain attendance, competency or effectiveness records where applicable.
Finding 5: Product Carbon Footprint information is unavailable
Action: Establish an appropriate PCF methodology, define system boundaries, identify activity data, select appropriate emission factors and document assumptions.
These findings are not simply documentation gaps.
They represent opportunities to strengthen the organization's sustainability management system and business capability.
TfS Readiness Checklist for Suppliers
Before responding to a TfS assessment or preparing for an audit, suppliers should consider the following questions:
- Are relevant sustainability policies formally approved and communicated?
- Can implementation of those policies be demonstrated through records?
- Are environmental, social, ethical and supply-chain risks periodically assessed?
- Are sustainability objectives, targets and KPIs defined and monitored?
- Are employees trained on relevant sustainability requirements?
- Is an effective grievance and whistleblowing mechanism available?
- Are suppliers and contractors screened for sustainability risks?
- Are higher-risk suppliers subject to enhanced due diligence, assessment or audit where appropriate?
- Are corrective actions assigned, monitored and verified for effectiveness?
- Is reliable Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG information available?
- Is the organization developing appropriate Scope 3 data capabilities?
- Can Product Carbon Footprint information be provided where relevant?
- Are sustainability claims consistent with supporting internal records?
- Can evidence be retrieved efficiently when requested by customers or assessors?
If several answers are “No,” the organization may benefit from conducting a structured sustainability gap assessment before beginning the formal assessment process.
TfS and the Future of Sustainable Chemical Supply Chains
The next phase of supply-chain sustainability is likely to become increasingly data-driven, evidence-based and interconnected.
Organizations will need information capable of supporting:
- Supplier risk management
- Climate strategies
- Scope 3 accounting
- Product Carbon Footprints
- Responsible sourcing
- Customer disclosures
- Procurement decisions
- Regulatory readiness
- Continuous improvement
The chemical industry has particular significance because chemical products and raw materials are embedded across numerous downstream value chains.
Improved sustainability information upstream can therefore influence environmental and social performance well beyond the immediate supplier relationship.
Supplier sustainability, carbon transparency and procurement decisions are becoming increasingly connected.
TfS represents one important industry approach for creating common infrastructure, expectations and methodologies to support that transition.
Final Takeaway
Together for Sustainability represents a broader evolution in how sustainability is managed across chemical supply chains.
The focus is moving beyond isolated questionnaires toward:
Assessment → Verification → Corrective Action → Supplier Development → Performance Measurement → Carbon Transparency → Continuous Improvement
For chemical manufacturers and suppliers, the most effective strategy is therefore not to begin preparing only when a customer sends a questionnaire.
The stronger approach is to establish a sustainability management system that is:
- Documented
- Implemented
- Risk-based
- Measurable
- Evidence-based
- Monitored
- Continuously improved
- Ready for customer and stakeholder scrutiny
Organizations that build these capabilities early will be better positioned to respond to changing customer expectations, improve supply-chain resilience, strengthen sustainability performance and participate effectively in increasingly sustainability-driven global markets.
Sustainability performance is no longer something companies simply report. Increasingly, it is something customers evaluate, procurement teams consider and organizations use to make supplier and strategic business decisions.
Resources
Official TfS Resources
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