+Vantage Vinyl®, GreenCircle Certified Driving Industry Sustainability
Providing the Proof
Companies across the vinyl value chain are demonstrating their commitment to advancing sustainability, and those efforts are comprised of many moving parts: reducing greenhouse gas emissions and waste, conserving energy, developing a circular economy, and promoting social justice. The focus is on continuous improvement and on raising the bar for industry best practices.
Those same companies realize they must offer a higher level of transparency with clear messaging when it comes to their sustainability efforts.
One way for companies to set themselves apart and drive greater credibility is through independent, third-party verification. According to the Shelton Group, 87% of Americans say green certifications are important when purchasing a product.
How do you go about backing your company’s sustainability claims?
Setting the Gold Standard for Transparency
The Vinyl Sustainability Council (VSC) has created a verification system called +Vantage Vinyl signifying that the company bearing the mark meets carefully developed environmental, health, and social criteria related to sustainability. Members of the VSC that are actively working to improve sustainability through compliance with the program’s Guiding Principles are eligible to be verified through GreenCircle Certified.
In addition to +Vantage Vinyl verification, GreenCircle Certified provides certifications and verifications for products and operations, including GreenCircle’s Certified Environmental Facts (CEF) label. Architects and designers consider GreenCircle’s label to be the gold standard in transparency.
For this reason, vinyl companies can gain greater trust from their customers when they become +Vantage Vinyl verified.
What’s Behind the Verification?
Earning third-party verification is a bold step for any vinyl company, one that exemplifies its ongoing effort to demonstrate progress on its sustainability journey.
What does it mean to be reviewed and verified by GreenCircle? How do you get started?
- Become a Primary Member of the Vinyl Sustainability Council: All primary members of the Vinyl Sustainability Council are eligible to become +Vantage Vinyl verified. Those that apply for the verification must go through a process set forth by GreenCircle Certified.
- Complete Questionnaire/Provide Documentation: GreenCircle Certified’s process for verification begins by conducting a deep dive into the proof points that serve as verifiable evidence of a brand’s sustainability efforts. Each applicant must complete a detailed questionnaire that meticulously assesses the operational approaches and business operations of companies that are pioneering a sustainability plan. Companies seeking verification must achieve compliance with all mandatory questions related to each of the +Vantage Vinyl Guiding Principles within the pillars of environmental stewardship, social diligence, economic soundness, collaboration, and open communication. Questions are wide-ranging. For instance, how are you as a company tracking greenhouse gas emissions? Are you identifying benchmarks for energy use/water reduction? Do you have policies around forced labor? Applicants must also provide supporting documentation that backs up their claims.
- GreenCircle Review: Once a company submits answers to the questionnaire along with sufficient documentation of any claims, GreenCircle meticulously reviews and then provides approval based on compliance with each of the +Vantage Vinyl’s Guiding Principles. What level of detail and granularity has the company provided in detailing its sustainability efforts? Is there any nonconformance in the documentation provided? Then, GreenCircle provides a final report back to the company signifying verification for each +Vantage Vinyl Guiding Principle. Companies that Earn the Mark signify they are committed to continuous improvement and contributing to the industry goals and reporting their progress on an annual basis.
- Marketing and Sales Support: After companies complete the verification process, GreenCircle provides support to companies to market achievements and gain the most investment from their verification. GreenCircle’s marketing team will partner with companies to aid in market drivers in the industry and how to use the GreenCircle verification to gain market awareness and preference.
Capitalizing on Credibility
Since GreenCircle Certified was established in 2009, the industry has seen tremendous growth in the requirements for third-party verification requirements. Setting the standard to eliminate unsubstantiated claims in the marketplace, GreenCircle Certified has helped to regulate the standard for companies to broaden sustainability practices throughout the three sustainability pillars: environmental, social, and governance.
Big-box retail stores are leading the way by setting requirements for sustainability attributes connected to the companies that produce the products they sell. This is pushing more companies to secure verification from a third party that backs the organization’s sustainability claims. If a company claims they have recycled content in a product, then these retailers are looking for companies to have that claim verified and certified to eliminate greenwashing. This verification is essential not only for the end product, but for the people and processes connected to the product’s full lifecycle.
Through GreenCircle Certified verification, +Vantage Vinyl brings a unique value to the industry: Verification is focused on the entire vinyl value chain, the first and only program of its kind that operates in the U.S or Canada.
GreenCircle Certified has achieved third-party endorsements of its own for its efforts. The organization has been recognized for being a trustworthy certifier by Amazon’s Climate Pledge Friendly program, ECOLOGO Certification Program, the United States Green Building Council, and the Association of Plastic Recyclers.
The end result: Becoming +Vantage Vinyl verified means a company has participated in – and has successfully completed – an in-depth verification process to Earn the Mark, all backed by the credibility of GreenCircle Certified.
