How are scores in the Chemicals section affected?

The median score has increased by 2 points in the Chemicals section. The majority of facility scores fall between a 20-point drop and a 14-point increase.

New questions in this section align with ZDHC Guidelines. Additionally, questions were restructured and applicability were realigned to enable better data collection, performance tracking, and equal reward. Facilities that were not able to achieve the same question in FEM 3.0 now have an opportunity to either achieve one or both questions score depending on their circumstances.

The applicability realignment minimizes unnecessary penalization of score to facilities that may never be able to achieve because of their circumstances. Of the 5200 facilities evaluated, 65% of were completed by Final Product Assemblers. These facilities likely fall under the “Minimal Chemical Use” category. In FEM 4.0, a smaller set of questions are applicable to this facility type in the Chemicals section.

Disclaimer: The score assessment completed by Cascale is biased for the following reasons: 

• The analysis was completed on more than 5200 posted modules in the first three months of FEM 2023 adoption, compared to their FEM 2022 score.
• Cascale evaluated facilities that posted their module at the start of the cadence introducing selection bias. Facilities that post early in the cadence are usually returning and more experienced in completing the FEM assessment.
• With the narrowed scope of core verification in 2024 of Levels 2 and 3, there is no validation of the accuracy of those responses this year. Score increases may be due to inaccurate responses.