ZDHC and Canopy collaborate closely to guide and encourage continuous improvements for MMCF suppliers. Canopy started releasing its annual Hot Button Report in 2017, to illustrate the performance of the MMCF industry's suppliers. To incorporate the sustainable chemical management efforts made by MMCF suppliers in the Hot Button Report, ZDHC aligned our MMCF Guidelines with Canopy's Hot Button Report Criteria under a Chemical Management section.
Updated Sustainable Chemical Management section
To determine each MMCF supplier's overall sustainable chemical management performance under the Hot Button Report's Sustainable Chemical Management section, ZDHC assesses the supplier's engagement with ZDHC, and their performance in each area, following the ZDHC MMCF Guidelines' chapters: chemical recovery, wastewater, and air emissions. Resulting in the following Sustainable Chemical Management section:
| SUSTAINABLE CHEMICAL MANAGEMENT | |
|---|---|
| C1 | PARTICIPATION IN ZDHC: The company is an active participant in ZDHC, where all of their viscose and modal facilities have joined the ZDHC Supplier Platform and have access to the MMCF Module. |
| C2 | CHEMICAL RECOVERY: All of the company's viscose and modal facilities have reached at least the Progressive level in their chemical recovery parameters and limit values, according to Chapter 1: ZDHC MMCF Responsible Fibre Production Guidelines V2.2 (Evaluation will start in 2024) |
| C3 | WASTEWATER: All of the company's viscose and modal facilities have reached at least the Progressive level in their wastewater discharge parameters and limit values, according to Chapter 2: ZDHC MMCF Wastewater Guidelines V2.2 (Evaluation will start in 2024) |
| C4 | AIR EMISSIONS: All of the company's viscose and modal facilities have reached at least the Progressive level in their hazardous chemicals' air emissions parameters and limit values, according to Chapter 3: ZDHC MMCF Air Emissions Guidelines V2.2 (Evaluation will start in 2024) |
Following the ZDHC MMCF Guidelines Industry Standard Implementation Approach V2.2, for the Hot Button Report (2023 and 2024 Edition) the Sustainable Chemical Management section will focus on Viscose and Modal production only and whether these facilities have reached the Progressive level in each area (i.e. C2, C3, and C4).
From ZDHC MMCF Module to Canopy Hot Button Report
To establish alignment between the ZDHC MMCF Module and Canopy's Hot Button Report, ZDHC needs to take into account several pieces of information from each supplier. Because the ZDHC MMCF Module gauges the performance of MMCF production at the facility level, whereas Canopy does so at the supplier level, to translate the performance of each area from the facility level to the supplier level, ZDHC needs to:
- Determine the level achieved in each area of a facility based on their assessment result on the ZDHC MMCF Module. A ZDHC level outcome (Foundational, Progressive or Aspirational) is allocated for each area based on the following reasoning:
| FACILITY DISCHARGE TYPE | CHEMICAL RECOVERY | WASTEWATER | AIR EMISSIONS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct Discharge | Level outcome awarded based on the lowest parameter level achieved | Level outcome awarded with an allowance of 80:20 ratio between the majority of the parameter levels obtained and its lower level* | Level outcome awarded based on the lowest parameter level achieved |
| Indirect Discharge | Level outcome awarded based on the lowest parameter level | ||
| Zero Liquid Discharge | Level outcome awarded based on the lowest parameter level |
Note: If the Meets Requirements score is achieved, this is considered to be Aspirational. If the Doesn't Meet Requirements score is achieved, this is considered to be Alert.
* If the majority of the parameter levels is Aspirational and one or more Foundational level is obtained in the same assessment, the final level outcome will by default be Progressive.
- Allocate a weight to each facility based on the facility's share of the production volume of the supplier to determine the final outcome of the supplier's performance for each criterion.
The following example shows the previously explained logic in practice for a supplier with 3 viscose and modal facilities:
| Facility 1 | Facility 2 | Facility 3 | Final outcome per criteria | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VISCOSE AND MODAL PRODUCTION VOLUME SHARE | 50% | 30% | 20% | |
| C1 PARTICIPATION IN ZDHC | Yes | Yes | Yes | 100% reached |
| C2 CHEMICAL RECOVERY | Foundational | Foundational | Aspirational | 20% reached |
| C3 WASTEWATER | Progressive | Aspirational | Foundational | 80% reached |
| C4 AIR EMISSIONS | Foundational | Progressive | Progressive | 50% reached |
Timeline
Finally, since the MMCF Module assessment can only be conducted at the end of the reporting year, due to the ZDHC MMCF Guidelines needing annual data which are only available from the end of the reporting year and the beginning of the following year, it is therefore only possible for ZDHC to provide producers' Sustainable Chemical Management performance (i.e. criteria) based on the previous year of the Canopy Hot Button Report. For example, in next year's Hot Button Report (2024 Edition) the producers' Sustainable Chemical Management performance will be based on their 2023 performance.