Together for Sustainability (TfS): A Complete Guide to the Chemical Industry’s Sustainable Supply Chain

What Is Together for Sustainability?

Together for Sustainability (TfS) is a chemical-industry initiative designed to improve sustainability performance across chemical supply chains. It brings chemical companies and their suppliers together around common approaches to sustainability assessments, audits, corrective action, Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions and product carbon footprint data.

The initiative was founded in 2011 and has grown into a global, member-led network of chemical companies. TfS describes its purpose as accelerating sustainable and resilient chemical supply chains through common tools, training and collective action.

For suppliers, the practical significance is straightforward: a sustainability assessment or audit requested by a chemical buyer can become more than a one-time customer requirement. The resulting information can potentially be shared across TfS members, reducing duplicate sustainability requests and increasing supplier visibility.

In simple terms: TfS is an industry collaboration model that turns supplier sustainability from a series of disconnected customer requests into a more standardized and collaborative process.

What Is Together for Sustainability?

Together for Sustainability (TfS) is a global initiative driven by chemical procurement specialists and member companies working to improve sustainability across chemical value chains.

Rather than creating a separate sustainability expectation for every buyer, TfS promotes common approaches for assessing and improving supplier performance. Its work covers areas such as environmental management, health and safety, labour and human rights, ethics, governance, sustainable supply chains and climate-related data.

TfS currently describes itself as a member-led initiative working to accelerate sustainable and resilient chemical supply chains. Its members collectively represent substantial global purchasing power, creating a strong incentive for suppliers to improve the quality and transparency of their sustainability management.

The model is based on a simple principle: Sustainable supply chains improve faster when buyers and suppliers work from common expectations instead of repeatedly asking for different information.

This is particularly important in the chemical sector because supply chains can involve multiple raw-material suppliers, processors, manufacturers, distributors and customers across different countries.

Why Was TfS Created?

Chemical companies depend on complex global supply chains. A single organization may work with hundreds or thousands of suppliers, while those suppliers may simultaneously receive sustainability questionnaires from multiple customers.

Without coordination, this can create:

• Repeated sustainability questionnaires
• Duplicate audits
• Different assessment methodologies
• High administrative costs
• Inconsistent supplier data
• Difficulty comparing supplier performance
• Limited visibility into upstream sustainability risks

TfS was created to address this challenge through collaboration and harmonization.

Its approach combines supplier assessments, audits, improvement plans, training and industry guidance. TfS also works on upstream greenhouse gas emissions and product carbon footprint data, recognizing that sustainability performance cannot be managed effectively without better supply-chain information.

The objective is therefore not simply to “score” suppliers. The larger objective is continuous improvement across the chemical value chain.

How Does the TfS Initiative Work?

The TfS model can be understood through four connected activities:

1. Measure Companies and suppliers assess sustainability performance using standardized approaches.

2. Identify gaps Assessment and audit results highlight areas where policies, management systems, implementation or performance can be improved.

3. Improve Corrective Action Plans and other improvement mechanisms help suppliers address identified weaknesses.

4. Collaborate Results, knowledge and tools can be shared within the TfS ecosystem, helping buyers and suppliers reduce duplication and focus resources on improvement.

TfS currently operates programmes covering supplier assessments, audits, Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions and product carbon footprint-related work.

This makes the initiative relevant to both procurement teams and sustainability teams. Procurement can use supplier sustainability information when managing supply-chain risks, while sustainability teams can use the information to understand environmental and social performance beyond the organization’s direct operations.

What Is a TfS Assessment?

A TfS Assessment is a questionnaire-based evaluation of a company’s sustainability performance.

The assessment looks beyond sustainability claims and requires supporting documentation. TfS states that its assessment methodology considers areas including Environment, Social Responsibility, Ethics and Supply Chain, with criteria informed by international frameworks and principles such as GRI, the UN Global Compact, Responsible Care and ISO 26000.

The assessment process is conducted through TfS’s assessment partner, EcoVadis.

The questionnaire is adapted to factors such as the company’s size, country and business sector. Suppliers provide information and supporting evidence, which is then analyzed by sustainability experts.

This evidence-based approach is important because having a sustainability policy is different from demonstrating that the policy is implemented.

For example:

• Policy: “We are committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
• Stronger evidence: A documented climate policy, organizational emissions inventory, reduction targets, action plans, energy data, performance indicators and evidence of implementation.

The second example provides a much clearer picture of sustainability management maturity.

What Does a TfS Assessment Evaluate?

A supplier should think about the assessment as an evaluation of its sustainability management system, not simply a questionnaire.

Key areas can include:

Environment This may involve areas such as:

• Environmental policies
• Energy management
• Greenhouse gas emissions
• Waste management
• Water management
• Pollution prevention
• Environmental compliance
• Resource efficiency

Labour and Human Rights Relevant areas can include:

• Working conditions
• Employee health and safety
• Labour rights
• Forced labour
• Child labour
• Non-discrimination
• Employee welfare
• Human rights management

Ethics and Governance This may include:

• Anti-corruption
• Business ethics
• Compliance
• Whistleblowing mechanisms
• Responsible business conduct
• Management accountability

Supply Chain This area becomes particularly important for companies purchasing raw materials or services. Potential areas include:

• Supplier sustainability requirements
• Supplier screening
• Supplier assessments
• Supplier audits
• Responsible sourcing
• Corrective actions
• Supply-chain risk management

The exact evidence requirements depend on the assessment context and company profile. Suppliers should therefore avoid treating a generic checklist as a substitute for the actual questionnaire and requirements applicable to their organization.

TfS Assessment Process: Step by Step

The process can broadly be understood through five stages.

Step 1: Registration A supplier is generally invited by a TfS member to participate in an assessment, although TfS also provides routes for voluntary participation.

Step 2: Data Collection The company completes the online questionnaire and provides supporting documents. This is often where organizations encounter their first major challenge. The problem is not always a lack of sustainability initiatives. In many cases, companies have implemented practices but cannot locate the evidence needed to demonstrate them.

Step 3: Analysis Submitted information is reviewed by sustainability experts. TfS also states that publicly available information can form part of the assessment analysis through its “360° watch” approach. This means companies should not treat sustainability assessment as a document-upload exercise. Public disclosures, policies and the consistency of sustainability claims also matter.

Step 4: Results The supplier receives a scorecard showing its sustainability performance, including strengths and potential improvement areas.

Step 5: Corrective Action Where improvement opportunities are identified, corrective actions can be established to address gaps. This turns the assessment from a one-time evaluation into a continuous improvement mechanism.

TfS Assessment vs TfS Audit

Although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, a TfS Assessment and a TfS Audit are different.

A TfS Audit provides a deeper examination of sustainability practices at a specific business location such as a production facility or warehouse. TfS states that audits assess criteria covering Management, Environment, Health & Safety, Labour & Human Rights and Governance.

An audit typically takes between one and three days and can be conducted on-site, remotely or through a hybrid approach, depending on the circumstances.

The practical difference is simple: an assessment primarily evaluates documented sustainability management, while an audit provides deeper verification of practices at a specific site.

What Is a Corrective Action Plan?

A Corrective Action Plan, commonly referred to as a CAP, is a structured roadmap for addressing sustainability gaps identified through an assessment or audit.

A strong CAP should answer four questions:

1. What is the identified gap?
2. What action will be taken?
3. Who is responsible?
4. By when will the action be completed?

For example:

• Finding: No documented supplier sustainability screening process.
• Corrective action: Develop and implement a supplier sustainability screening procedure covering ESG risk criteria.
• Owner: Procurement and Sustainability teams.
• Evidence: Approved procedure, supplier screening records and implementation records.
• Target date: Defined internally based on risk and priority.

TfS describes CAPs as a starting point for constructive dialogue between suppliers and buyers and provides tools to help prioritize improvement areas.

This is an important mindset shift. A finding is not necessarily the end of the process. It can become the starting point for building a stronger management system.

What Is the Role of EcoVadis in TfS?

EcoVadis plays an important role in the TfS assessment model.

TfS selected EcoVadis as its partner for sustainability assessments, and the resulting scorecards can be shared with TfS members through the EcoVadis platform under the applicable sharing arrangements.

This has a significant practical implication for suppliers. Instead of completing completely separate sustainability assessments for every TfS member, a supplier’s assessment information can be made available within the TfS network. This can help reduce duplication and make sustainability information more useful across customer relationships.

For suppliers, it also means that preparing for an assessment should not be viewed as a single-customer exercise. The stronger approach is to build a sustainability management system that can withstand scrutiny from multiple stakeholders.

TfS and Scope 3 Emissions

One of the biggest challenges in chemical supply chains is understanding upstream greenhouse gas emissions.

For many companies, a significant portion of their climate footprint sits outside their own facilities. This is where Scope 3 becomes important.

TfS has developed an industry-wide programme addressing Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions and the need for harmonized approaches to calculating upstream emissions.

For chemical manufacturers, this creates a direct connection between supplier data and corporate climate strategy.

Better supplier data can help companies:

• Improve Scope 3 inventories
• Identify emission hotspots
• Compare materials and suppliers
• Identify reduction opportunities
• Support procurement decisions
• Improve product-level carbon transparency

This is also why sustainability assessments and carbon data are increasingly becoming connected rather than separate activities. A procurement team may need supplier ESG information. A sustainability team may need emissions data. A product team may need 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 in chemical value chains.

TfS has developed a PCF Guideline specifically for calculating cradle-to-gate product carbon footprints for chemical products. The guideline is intended to harmonize calculation approaches and improve the consistency of carbon data exchanged across the industry.

The guideline is particularly relevant because different calculation methodologies can produce different results even when companies are analyzing similar products.

A harmonized methodology can improve:

• Comparability
• Data exchange
• Scope 3 accounting
• Supplier engagement
• Product-level emissions management
• Decarbonization decision-making

TfS describes its PCF Guideline as aligned with international standards such as ISO 14067 and designed to support the sharing of high-quality product carbon footprint information.

For chemical companies receiving PCF requests, the challenge is therefore not simply calculating a number. The real challenge is ensuring that the number has a clear methodology, reliable activity data, appropriate emission factors, transparent assumptions and a defensible system boundary.

Why TfS Matters for Chemical Suppliers

For suppliers, sustainability performance is increasingly becoming part of commercial competitiveness.

A buyer may want to know:

• Is the supplier managing environmental risks?
• Does it have appropriate health and safety systems?
• Are labour and human rights risks addressed?
• Does the company have ethical business practices?
• Does it manage sustainability risks in its own supply chain?
• Can it provide credible emissions information?
• Is it capable of responding to customer sustainability requirements?

These questions are no longer limited to sustainability departments. They can influence procurement, supplier selection, customer relationships, risk management and business continuity.

TfS provides a common mechanism through which chemical companies can address these questions.

Its 2025 activity report shows the scale of this model: TfS reported 24,091 assessments actively managed by members and 16,099 assessments conducted and shared across TfS members during 2025. It also reported that 9,100 suppliers demonstrated sustainability improvements following an assessment, audit or re-audit.

The implication is important: Supplier sustainability is increasingly moving from a compliance exercise toward a business capability.

How to Prepare for a TfS Assessment

Preparation should begin before the questionnaire arrives.

1. Establish ownership Assign clear responsibility across Sustainability, EHS, HR, Procurement, Legal, Operations and senior management.

2. Conduct a gap assessment Compare current practices with the areas typically evaluated in supplier sustainability assessments. Do not only ask, “Do we have a policy?” Ask: Is the policy implemented, monitored and supported by evidence?

3. Build an evidence library Organize documents by topic. For example:

• Environment: Environmental policy, Energy data, GHG inventory, Waste records, Water data, Environmental permits, Improvement initiatives
• Labour and Human Rights: Human rights policy, Labour policy, Employee training, Grievance mechanism, Health and safety records
• Ethics: Code of conduct, Anti-bribery policy, Whistleblower mechanism, Compliance training
• Supply Chain: Supplier code of conduct, Supplier screening procedure, Supplier assessments, Supplier audit records, Corrective action records

4. Verify data consistency One of the most overlooked areas is consistency. If your sustainability report says one thing, your internal records should support it. If your environmental policy claims a programme exists, evidence of implementation should be available. If you report emissions, the calculation methodology and source data should be traceable.

5. Document results Policies demonstrate intent. Actions demonstrate implementation. KPIs demonstrate performance. A mature sustainability management system should connect all three.

6. Prepare for improvement, not just submission The goal should not be to “complete the questionnaire.” The goal should be to create a system that becomes stronger after every assessment cycle.

Common Challenges Suppliers Face

• Challenge 1: Policies exist, but implementation evidence is weak. Many companies have policies prepared for compliance purposes but lack records showing implementation.
• Challenge 2: Sustainability data is scattered. Energy data may sit with Facilities. Employee data may sit with HR. Supplier information may sit with Procurement. Carbon calculations may sit with Sustainability. Without coordination, preparing one assessment can become unnecessarily difficult.
• Challenge 3: No clear document ownership. Teams may have the right documents but may not know which version is current or who is responsible for maintaining it.
• Challenge 4: Carbon data is not mature. Companies may know their electricity consumption but lack a complete Scope 1, Scope 2 or Scope 3 inventory.
• Challenge 5: Supplier sustainability is overlooked. Organizations often focus on their own operations while giving limited attention to the sustainability risks within their procurement base.
• Challenge 6: Improvement actions are not tracked. A corrective action without an owner, deadline and evidence is difficult to close effectively.

Practical Example: Turning Assessment Findings into Improvement

Consider a hypothetical chemical manufacturer supplying raw materials to several international customers.

The company has:

• An environmental policy
• An employee code of conduct
• Basic energy records
• Safety procedures
• A supplier approval process

However, the company discovers several gaps during its sustainability assessment preparation.

• Finding 1: No formal climate target
  • Action: Establish a documented emissions baseline and define a realistic reduction target.
• Finding 2: Supplier sustainability is not evaluated
  • Action: Introduce ESG screening criteria into supplier onboarding and periodic supplier reviews.
• Finding 3: Environmental data is not consolidated
  • Action: Create a central monthly dashboard covering electricity, fuel, water, waste and greenhouse gas emissions.
• Finding 4: Policies are not supported by training records
  • Action: Introduce annual training and maintain attendance and completion records.
• Finding 5: Product carbon footprint data is unavailable
  • Action: Establish a PCF calculation methodology, define system boundaries, collect activity data and document assumptions.

The important lesson is that the assessment has revealed management-system opportunities, not simply document gaps. This is where the greatest long-term value can be created.

TfS and the Future of Sustainable Chemical Supply Chains

The next phase of supply-chain sustainability will be increasingly data-driven. Companies will need more than annual questionnaires.

They will need reliable data that can support:

• Supplier risk management
• Climate strategies
• Scope 3 accounting
• Product carbon footprints
• Responsible sourcing
• Customer disclosures
• Procurement decisions
• Regulatory readiness
• Continuous improvement

The chemical industry is particularly important because chemical products are embedded in a huge range of downstream value chains. Better information upstream can therefore influence sustainability performance far beyond the original supplier relationship.

The direction of travel is clear: supplier sustainability, carbon transparency and procurement decisions are becoming increasingly interconnected. TfS is one example of how an industry can create common infrastructure for that transition.

Final Takeaway

Together for Sustainability represents a broader shift in how chemical supply-chain sustainability is managed. The focus is moving from isolated questionnaires toward shared assessments, deeper audits, corrective action, supplier development, carbon transparency and continuous improvement.

For chemical manufacturers and suppliers, the most effective strategy is therefore not to prepare only when a customer sends a questionnaire. It is to build a sustainability management system that is:

• Documented
• Implemented
• Measurable
• Evidence-based
• Continuously improved
• Ready for customer scrutiny

The companies that build these capabilities early will be better positioned to respond to changing customer expectations, improve supply-chain resilience and participate in increasingly sustainability-driven global markets.

Sustainability performance is no longer only something companies report. Increasingly, it is something their customers use to make business decisions.

Resources

• TfS Initiative – Official Website
• TfS Assessment Methodology and Process
• TfS Audit Programme
• TfS Corrective Action Plans
• TfS Product Carbon Footprint Resources
• TfS Scope 3 and PCF Guideline
• TfS Publications and Activity Report