Guide
EcoVadis - in brief
EcoVadis is an international platform for assessing the sustainability of companies. The score ranges from 0 to 100 points across 4 themes - environment, labour and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement - and 21 criteria. Large companies use it to assess their suppliers, and assessed companies use it to show their results to customers.
EcoVadis is not certification against a standard: the assessment is carried out by the platform itself, based on a questionnaire and the documents the company uploads. Medals are awarded by percentile relative to all companies assessed in the previous 12 months, and the assessment is valid for 12 months.
Who is EcoVadis for
An EcoVadis assessment is usually requested from suppliers to large companies and retail chains:
- Manufacturers supplying international companies
- Logistics and transport companies
- Manufacturers of packaging and materials
- Companies providing services to corporate clients
- Chemical and pharmaceutical companies
- Suppliers to the automotive industry
What EcoVadis requires
For each theme, the analysts look for three things: policies - what the company commits to doing; actions - measures, certifications and their scope; and results - reports and indicators. On the environment theme, for example, that means an environmental policy with targets for energy, waste and emissions, energy efficiency measures or an ISO 14001 system, and a report on energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. An answer without a supporting document earns no points, and a missing link in the chain lowers the score.
The questionnaire is tailored to the company’s industry, size and country. Besides the uploaded documents, EcoVadis also checks publicly available information about the company. Its experts then analyse the evidence and issue a scorecard with strengths and recommendations. Since 2024, medals have been awarded by percentile rather than for a fixed number of points: platinum for the top 1%, gold for the top 5%, silver for the top 15% and bronze for the top 35%. No medal is awarded if the score in any theme is below 30 points.
The benefits
For many customers, an EcoVadis assessment is a condition for a contract or for a place on their list of preferred suppliers. A good score is an argument in negotiations, and a medal is a visible sign of responsible business.
Preparation also brings order to the company itself: clear policies, traceable actions and reports that help both with sustainability reporting and with the requirements of banks and investors.
How implementation works
- Current-state analysisWhat you already have - policies, certificates, reports - and where the gaps are.
- PoliciesPolicies on the 4 themes, tailored to your industry and the size of your company.
- ActionsMeasures and procedures showing that the policies are applied in practice.
- Indicators and reportsData on energy, waste, safety, training and suppliers.
- Questionnaire and documentsWe prepare the answers and the supporting evidence for upload.
- Improvement planAfter the assessment - an analysis of the scorecard and a plan for the next assessment.
What you get
- Gap analysis across the 4 themes
- Policies on environment, labour, ethics and procurement
- Procedures and evidence of your actions
- Indicators and reports
- Prepared answers to the questionnaire
- Organised documents ready for upload
- Analysis of the scorecard
- Improvement plan