What is the ZDHC Performance InCheck Report?
The ZDHC InCheck Report (Inventory Check) helps Suppliers to check their chemical inventory against the ZDHC MRSL on the ZDHC Gateway. The ZDHC Performance InCheck Guidelines contain all the necessary information for Suppliers to work with the Performance InCheck Report.
The chemical guidance sheets are attached to the MRSL at the relevant substance. You can find the ZDHC MRSL here.
How often should I generate a new ZDHC Performance InCheck Report?
We suggest generating a Performance InCheck Report once a month to support continuous monitoring and improvement of a Suppliers’ chemical management
How can a Supplier generate a ZDHC Performance InCheck Report?
To generate a Performance InCheck Report, please have a look at the ZDHC Performance InCheck Guidelines or "Create and Download Performance InCheck Reports (Suppliers)" article published on the ZDHC Knowledge Base under the Gateway section for detailed instructions.
Can a Supplier share its ZDHC Performance InCheck Report with a Brand/Retailer?
Suppliers can share their ZDHC Performance InCheck Reports with their connected Brands online on the ZDHC Gateway. Suppliers can also share Performance InCheck Reports offline with interested stakeholders.
What data and information are listed on a ZDHC Performance InCheck Report?
The Performance InCheck Report is a document that summarises both numerically and graphically the following items:
- The number of chemical products uploaded by the Supplier in its monthly inventory.
- Number and percentage of chemical products from this inventory that is listed in the ZDHC Gateway.
- ZDHC MRSL Conformance Levels (current or previous) of products listed in the ZDHC Gateway.
Is the data and information in the ZDHC Performance InCheck verified by an external party?
No, the inventory details uploaded by Suppliers to generate the ZDHC Performance InCheck Report are not verified or validated through a third party. Thus, it should be primarily used as a tool by Suppliers for internal monitoring of the chemical products in their inventory.
What is the difference between ZDHC Performance InCheck and ZDHC ChemCheck Reports?
The ChemCheck Report is a chemical product passport or better a ZDHC MRSL Conformity Certificate for Formulators to assure their customers that their chemical product has been verified to the ZDHC Conformance Standards. The ChemCheck Report includes information such as:
- A chemical product summary which includes the ZDHC MRSL Conformance Level with description on the respective levels.
- A certification summary as well as SDS summary, listing individual chemical product certifications and their verification status.
The cost to create a ChemCheck Report is included in the annual product fee. ChemCheck Reports are only available for public chemical products.
The Performance InCheck Report shows the Suppliers how much their chemical inventory onsite conforms to the ZDHC MRSL. The Gateway Inventory List of chemical products (snapshot of CIL) which the Supplier uploads, is screened against the ZDHC Gateway product database to generate an InCheck Report. If you are a Supplier and would like to use the InCheck option, please contact any of the ZDHC Approved Solution Providers available on ZDHC Implementation HUB to purchase InCheck.
Commodity chemicals are single substances whose chemical structure is well known and they are used to create conditions for a process and are not expected to remain on the substrate. Hence, these are discharged almost entirely into the wastewater. As described in the Performance InCheck Report Guidelines document published in Dec 2020 (pages 16-17), commodity chemicals can be excluded by a supplier from the chemical inventory uploaded to generate a Performance InCheck Report until ZDHC develops a framework to include them in the scope of the ZDHC Gateway database or implements a strategy to demonstrate ZDHC MRSL conformance of commodity chemicals.
To have a complete overview of a supplier’s chemical inventory for ZDHC MRSL Conformance Levels, it is important to include all chemical products used at the facility in the chemical inventory list (CIL). However, chemical products not directly applied or used in production processes (such as sanitation, maintenance, and laboratory chemicals) and commodity chemicals (such as acetic acid, sodium hydroxide, etc.) are not populated in the ZDHC Gateway database for ZDHC MRSL conformance as it is challenging to engage the vendors of such chemicals. This makes it difficult for suppliers to search and source ZDHC MRSL conformant commodity chemicals from ZDHC Gateway and demonstrate conformance to the ZDHC MRSL. ZDHC is currently developing a framework for ZDHC MRSL conformance for commodity chemicals as well as the methodology for suppliers to demonstrate responsible use of commodity chemicals. This is a work in progress and once this framework is published, suppliers can plan actions.
Figure 3 of Performance InCheck Guidelines V1.0 provides more information on the type of chemical products included in the ZDHC MRSL scope and those that are excluded from the scope of the Performance InCheck Report.