Table of Contents
- What does one "unit" mean in the Chemistry Indicator?
- Are water savings from having a waterless technology, OEKO Tex certification or Bluesign, taken into account?
- Where is dyeing accounted for in the Higg Product Tools?
- Where do the Higg Product tools and Higg FEM overlap for calculating GHG Scope 3 emissions?
- How does a Higg MSI update impact using Higg PM?
- Can I verify my MSI and PM results to make a verified claim?
- Are the Product Tools ISO certified?
- Can I communicate results from the Product Tools externally (i.e. to customers/consumers)?
What does one "unit" mean in the Chemistry Indicator?
The Chemistry Indicator represents the human and ecological toxicity impact created. This means the harm done by chemical substances to humans and the environment throughout the life cycle of the material, process or product. The Chemistry Indicator is measured in “units”. This unit of measurement is taken from the USEtox model, because the impact calculation is based on the USEtox characterization values.
The number of units is determined by the impact of the separate processes that make up material production. Each process has low, medium or high impacts assigned to them:
- Low: 2 Chemistry Units
- Medium: 4 Chemistry Units
- High: 6 Chemistry Units
The aggregated process impacts determine the material-level chemistry impacts.
The Chemistry Indicator MSI score can be analyzed in the same way as the MSI score for the other LCIA categories: a score of 10 is what an average material would score (this does not imply high or low impact).
More information on the methodology of the Chemistry Indicator can be found in the Appendix of the MSI methodology document on page 47.
Are water savings from having a waterless technology, OEKO Tex certification or Bluesign, taken into account?
In the MSI and PM, reduced impacts because of waterless technology or certified processes cannot be accounted for, unless specific data reflecting these process-impacts have been submitted by the facility or technology provider.
Read more about data submissions here (This also applies for ‘missing data’ in both MSI and PM).
Where is dyeing accounted for in the Higg Product Tools?
Dyeing usually happens at the material processing stage and hence is accounted for in the MSI on a material-level. In the PM, only garment dyeing can be selected with batch dyeing as the only option.
Where do the Higg Product tools and Higg FEM overlap for calculating GHG Scope 3 emissions?
You can use MSI + Product Module to make a cradle-to-grave carbon footprint. For calculating Scope 3 GHG emissions associated with Category 1 Purchased Goods and Services you would take MSI data + BOM and Finished Goods Manufacturing from the PM.
If you want to use FEM data, you could use MSI data for measuring BOM-impacts, and use FEM tier 1 data for calculating impacts associated with product assembly. The impacts that are not covered in this scenario are impacts from transportation from tier 2 to tier 1, and the loss rate of material usage at tier 1 level.
Disaggregating MSI process data is not possible (you can only see process impacts in the tool but you cannot download these to Excel) and for that reason, our tools do not support using FEM data for tier 2 in combination with MSI data.
A useful resource regarding calculating Scope 3 emissions using different methodologies from UNFCCC can be downloaded here under Working Group Drafts.
How does a Higg MSI update impact using Higg PM?
The Higg PM does not automatically update calculations when there is a new version of MSI. We recommend editing (if necessary) and saving the product in order to implement changes. The intended purpose of this behavior is so that you have control over when (and if) your product impacts are updated.
Additionally, we recommend downloading the PM file in order to view a record of the impact data.
Can I verify my MSI and PM results to make a verified claim?
Worldly or Cascale do not offer verification of the material or product assessments made in the MSI and PM. If you would like to verify your results, you can work with a third-party consultancy firm to verify the data entries that you made and the accompanying results. Please keep in mind that if you work with a third party, they will need to access the platform and your data through their own Worldly account in order to comply with our Terms of Use.
When making any type of claim, or when communicating about Higg Index data, it is important to adhere to the Higg Index Communication Guidelines. Secondly, what is important is to review legislation from national authorities about making consumer-facing sustainability claims in the markets where you are selling your products. Adhering to the Higg Index Communication Guidelines is solely intended for complying to our Terms of Use and is not intended for ensuring compliance with regulation.
The Communication Guidelines currently do not have any guidance on communicating a verified claim. Meanwhile, we are working to update our Guidelines, we recommend you to 1. make sure the claim that you make is in line with what is allowed in the country/jurisdiction where the products are marketed, and 2. keep all documentation used for the verification in case you might need this in the future.
Are the Product Tools ISO certified?
ISO does not perform certifications but rather develops the standards or rules to be followed by a system, process, or documentation. The modeling principles used for the construction of the Higg MSI and PM database are based on the ISO 14040/140444 standards which establish the principles and framework of life cycle assessments, and the data requirements respectively.
Can I communicate results from the Product Tools externally (i.e. to customers/consumers)?
The first advice that we can give you regarding making product level or material level claims, is to familiarize yourself with local regulations regarding consumer facing product claims in the markets where you are selling.
Second, when communicating impacts it is always important to make sure that the impacts that you are communicating, match with the product or material that you make the claim about. This sounds logical, but can be tricky! It concerns being precise and accurate about which life cycle stages have been taken into account when calculating impacts.
The MSI only takes into account cradle-to-gate (textile processing) impacts and hence MSI-impacts are not fit for communicating on a product-level. You need to use the PM to determine impacts on a product level. Use PM-impacts to communicate about the impacts of an apparel (or other type) product, and use the MSI to communicate about the impacts of a textile (or material).
Thirdly and most importantly, for any public disclosure, please refer to our Higg Index Communications Guidelines to ensure compliance with our Terms of Use.