ECOVADIS SCORING METHODOLOGY: HOW COMPANIES ARE EVALUATED ACROSS 21 SUSTAINABILITY CRITERIA

 

Sustainable actions are now a major concern for companies today. With rising demands from investors, customers, regulators, and even the general public, companies require legitimization for responsible conduct-for environmental, social, or ethical profiles.

As more organizations report their operations using ESG principles, there’s been a surge in demand for transparent, credible, and standardized methods in assessing sustainability. EcoVadis enters at this point. As one of the best platforms to assess an organization’s sustainability performance, EcoVadis allows companies an in-depth insight into the organization’s ESG performance through a well-developed, internationally recognized scoring mechanism.

More than 100,000 companies-from various industries and regions-trust and certify EcoVadis to assess ESG performance, help to generate new business, and practically work on their ESG strategies. We will explore the EcoVadis scoring method in this blog, the 21 sustainability criteria on which companies are assessed, and how your company can use this assessment to establish the way in a prominent sustainable business practice.

WHAT IS ECOVADIS RATING?

EcoVadis is a well-known company that provides sustainability and CSR ratings. The assessment measures performance in environmental, social, and governance areas, guided by international standards such as ISO 26000, GRI, and the UN Global Compact. For an EcoVadis assessment, a company provides proof of its policies, practices and results that relate to ESG matters. A score will be assigned to the company after studying the submitted information and applying EcoVadis’ methods. The outcome of an EcoVadis assessment is an EcoVadis Rating—a structured evidence-based scorecard that provides an independent assessment of sustainability management across the four main themes:

1. Environment: The goal is to evaluate efforts to reduce environmental footprint and promote sustainable resource use.
2. Labor & Human Rights: how these issues are addressed within the company’s operations and in the broader value chain.
3. Ethics: how the company manages sensitive data or confidential information.
4. Sustainable Procurement: how a company ensures that its suppliers and partners follow responsible environmental and social practices

This rating is then translated into a number between 0 and 100, along with a medal level of Platinum, Gold, Silver, or Bronze, depending on performance these are:

These scores are calculated using 21 different sustainability indicators within the four themes. These indicators are further adjusted to the reality of your company depending on its sector, geographical location, and size to provide the most comparable basis for scoring.

Looking to improve your EcoVadis rating or need support with your first assessment? Our team at 4C Consulting  specializes in helping companies align with EcoVadis requirements and build long-term ESG strategies. Get 1Hr Free Consultation Now!

THE 21 SUSTAINABILITY CRITERIA OF ECOVADIS ASSESSMENT:

• Energy Consumption & Greenhouse Gases (GHGs):

This criterion looks at how well a company understands and manages its energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. It’s not just about having a sustainability statement—it’s about showing that concrete steps are being taken to measure and reduce environmental impact. According to EcoVadis, companies are expected to give significant importance to energy efficiency which should be based on clear sets of plans and supporting evidence. This means having systems to track usage, defined targets for reduction and initiatives that are built into everyday business practices.

EXAMPLE: A logistics company introduces route optimization software to cut down on fuel use and includes its annual GHG emissions data in its sustainability report.

• Water Management:

Under this criterion, the company is assessed for how it handles water consumption in its activities. Places where water is important such as agriculture, food processing and textiles, should take particular care. It expects companies to understand their use of water, put measures in place to save water, prevent anything harmful from entering the water and control discharges. Any monitoring activities, waste management measures and wastewater treatment operations should be supported by the organization’s internal rules and record-keeping.

EXAMPLE: In the textile industry, a closed-loop water recycling system helps a manufacturer reduce freshwater usage during dyeing.

• Biodiversity:

EcoVadis assesses whether an organization is doing its best to avoid damaging the environment and wildlife through its business activities. This applies most to construction, mining, energy and agriculture. Companies have to notice possible threats to biodiversity and handle these risks using conservation plans or training staff. The projects should be designed to protect natural ecosystems and close cooperation or consistent surveys should remain.

EXAMPLE: A construction company places a biodiversity buffer zone nearby and supports local environmentalists in reviewing changes in nature near its projects.

• Local And Accidental Pollution:

Pollution that happens from human activities located near the place or just by accident It measures if a company is effectively managing risks involving unexpected environmental discharges such as spills or leaks. You must also look after prevention methods and cultivate a community that is prepared at all times. Society requires companies to detect pollution, build real-time alerts and literate staff on how to react appropriately. Rehearsing for emergencies and planning for them in writing is a good sign of being proactive.

EXAMPLE: Air monitoring is done routinely to check the quality of the air at every company location and employees participate in four quarterly drills to ensure no one in the company is unprepared for a spill.

• Materials, Chemicals and Waste:

All processes require the use of Materials, Chemicals and Waste. It looks at the way a company collects raw materials and disposes of waste, most importantly hazardous materials. The company believes companies should decrease the use of dangerous raw materials, increase their recycling and reuse and dispose of waste securely and openly. With good performance, there should be a clear policy for buying materials, controlled suppliers for chemicals and strong records for waste tracking. Companies guided by responsibility may earn certifications or use the circular approach to reduce their negative impact on the environment.

Example: A company that sells electronics ensures its products are lead-free, switches to environmentally friendly materials and introduces recycling facilities at its worksites.

• Product Use:

It looks at the impact that a product has on the environment when the customer uses it. Equipment that needs energy, water or resources to work is expected to be created as efficiently as possible. EcoVadis seeks out companies that can be shown to have improved their goods, used fewer resources and become greener through their efforts. This applies mainly to electronics, appliances, vehicles and industrial equipment.

Example: A manufacturer of home appliances changes its refrigerators so they use 25% less electricity, yielding a better rating and benefits for all consumers.

• Product End-of-Life:

EcoVadis looks into how businesses handle their products after they have been put to use. At this stage, they focus on recycling, refurbishment, take-back programs and designing goods for disassembly. After their customers have purchased a product, companies should take steps to minimize the effects on landfills and encourage circularity. Clear examples can be logistical backups, incentives or working with recyclers.

Example: A smartphone brand organizes a trade-in system for customers around the world where they can receive credit, after which the devices are either refurbished or recycled safely with certified partners.

• Customers Health & Safety:

Ensuring the Well-Being of Customers It checks if the company’s products and services are safe for users. In food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and chemicals, special attention is given to testing, checking risks providing straightforward labels and clear information. Businesses should ensure they meet safety standards and prepare for any risks to staff members.

Example: A skincare company has its products tested by dermatologists and marks down the allergens and way to use the product on the labels.

• Environmental Services and Advocacy:

Helping bring about environmental changes this refers to the efforts companies make to promote global environmental goals in addition to what they do within their businesses. It can involve cooperating with NGOs, joining sustainability partnerships, representing the industry and funding research that helps the environment. They prove that a company cares about the environment and looks at sustainability from a perspective that lasts for years.

Example: A technology company works with a group focused on the climate and uses its resources to build free data resources for tracking emissions.

• Employee Health & Safety:

It determines if a company has reliable health and safety management systems that look after the health of its staff. EcoVadis considers effective policies, risk management measures, regular reviews and safety training that are better than the required rules. It needs to be done carefully in sectors such as construction, manufacturing, logistics and mining. The information you collect for these should cover accidents, the firm’s safety procedures and each worker’s participation. Firms should establish a culture of safety that always puts people before anything else.

Example: The construction company includes weekly safety group talks, allows anonymous hazard reporting, oversees safety audits and displays dashboards on all incidents to project managers.

• Working Conditions:

It analyses if a company provides fair and equal treatment to all employees in accordance with the law. This deals with employees’ wages, schedules, hours they work, breaks, keeping their job and getting access to health care or pension funds. EcoVadis makes sure that companies treat their staff with respect at all times during their work. Every business needs clear contracts, rules for employees’ hours and a way for workers to resolve any concerns. Businesses should check on their subcontractors to confirm that all standards are being followed.

EXAMPLE: If a garment manufacturer is ethical, they properly staff their jobs and pay workers by how many hours they work, as well as give workers insurance and medical care.

• Social Dialogue:

The criterion looks at whether there is a comfortable system for management and employees to talk directly. This means employees can join unions, organize themselves and address complaints. EcoVadis gives points to companies where workers are encouraged to take part in positive work discussions. In every kind of organization, it is important to use formal methods for engagement and feedback. Without a union, employees have monthly meetings with their representatives in a factory to discuss topics such as pay, safety and shifts and main topics discussed are identified and dealt with by HR. regularly with affected communities, and invests in relocation support, land-use compensation, and local job creation programs.

• Career Management & Training:

Supporting in the Management & Training Field EcoVadis checks if a company is successfully creating opportunities for its employees’ development throughout their careers. The company offers onboarding setups, training opportunities, leadership courses and various career paths. When a program is strong, everyone can keep learning constantly throughout their careers within the company. Employees should have access to the same amount of training, no matter which department or office they belong to. It is good to monitor who attends trainings, set goals for staff members and link training achievements to career moves within the company.

Example: A major IT services company offers every worker an innovation fund, logs their learning in the LMS and updates quarterly on movement within the company hierarchy and completion of designated leadership programs.

• Child Labour, Forced Labour & Human Trafficking:

It is used to spotlight and remove serious cases of human rights abuse within a company and among its suppliers. When working with risky regions, EcoVadis requires companies to have strict rules and controls in place against child labor, forced labor and human trafficking. Even if a company has written commitments, they must also audit suppliers, use due diligence systems, talk to factory workers and enforce the rules of their contracts. To be effective, a company makes sure it can detect and stop breaches in compliance before they actually happen.

EXAMPLE: A global company requires its top two tiers of suppliers to receive annual social audits by third parties, commit to a no-child- or forced-labor contract and submit reports every year on their workers’ welfare which are assessed during requalification.

• Diversity, Discrimination and Harassment:

EcoVadis looks at whether companies encourage diversity and protect their employees from every type of discrimination and harassment. It happens for every person regardless of their gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or age. Companies should have clear, accessible policies in place to prevent discrimination and harassment—and just as importantly, they need to back those policies with regular staff training and safe, confidential ways for employees to speak up if something goes wrong sharing how well the organization is doing in promoting diversity matters too and this should be done through regular reports. Working towards inclusion in the workplace brings benefits and better performance preventing risks.

Example: A world-wide media firm publishes DEI reports every year, requires all employees to go through training against bias and has an open-door hotline for anonymous reports handled by HR’s compliance department on a no-retaliation basis.

• External Stakeholders Human Rights:

With this criterion, a stakeholder is checked on their approach toward local communities, indigenous people and various affected groups, including farmers and informal workers, due to their business operations. EcoVadis requires businesses to carry out formal assessments for human rights risks, involve relevant parties prior to launching major projects and introduce plans to cope with risks when found. This is most important in the extractives, infrastructure and agriculture sectors. Many leading businesses describe their plans to engage their stakeholders and provide results from these engagements. Before starting a project in rural areas, a mining business conducts its own rights assessment, organizes meetings with residents and includes community assistance, relocations and infrastructure in its plan.

• Corruption:

Organizations should have a formal anti-corruption policy backed by effective enforcement—including staff training, risk assessments, and safe reporting systems—according to EcoVadis. From procurement to sales and executive decisions, the aim is to guarantee ethical behavior is ingrained in daily operations. Companies should show that preventive controls are in place at all levels and record how they deal with offenses.

Example: Anti-bribery training is included into employee onboarding by a drug manufacturer, along with a worldwide whistle-blower hotline and a quarterly review of regional risk exposure with its compliance team.

• Anticompetitive Practices:

The company’s behavior in regard to honest market practices is one of the standards EcoVadis looks at. Business growth the purchase of goods or services and building alliances should be guided by proper policies. Both the firm and their staff should follow competition regulations locally and internationally and learn about what could be seen as a conflict of interest. There should be controls to monitor the pricing used, joint ventures and contracts gained through bidding. Fair competition is added to every deal with clients and partners, every senior business person participates in antitrust education and every merger meeting is reviewed by a lawyer.

• Reliable Information Management:

Companies are evaluated under this criterion based on their privacy, cyber security, protection of IP and internal controls around sensitive personal information. EcoVadis believes businesses should safeguard their data, comply with regulations like GDPR and CCPA and aim to prevent data breaches. Maturity in cyber security can be seen through frameworks, employee education, control over access and protocols put in place by vendors.

Example: A fintech company applies rules for data management set by ISO 27001, holds yearly security exercises to educate staff and uses multi-level encryption for its customers’ information that IT security personnel reviews.

• Environmental Practices Of supplier:

This criterion evaluates the way a company handles the environment management of its suppliers. According to EcoVadis, companies need to make sure environmental standards are part of their purchasing processes. For example, this covers supplier risk charts, checking the impact on nature, arranging reviews and providing solid rules in both contracts and codes. Exemplary companies also assist suppliers with plans to reduce emissions, waste, water and materials.

EXAMPLE: A large global supermarket company reviews the environmental records of all main suppliers, asks for carbon information in annual reports and helps several important partners improve sustainability through the supplier platform.

• Social Practices of Supplier:

This means a company is considered ethical and socially responsible only if it requires suppliers to use ethical and responsible labor standards. A company must check if its suppliers adhere to labor laws, rights of workers and ethical practices in the workplace. Supplier face-to-face examinations, having them sign a code of conduct and correcting problems found are all expected of organizations. Checks should be carried out in a consistent manner, along the whole supply chain and take risks into account.

Example: An international apparel brand requires that all main suppliers are audited by experts, follows their compliance on an in-house dashboard and visits suppliers with high risks to make sure appropriate actions are taken.

Need help aligning with EcoVadis’ 21 sustainability criteria? Explore how 4c consultants’ team can support your journey toward ESG leadership. Visit our EcoVadis services page

 

BENEFITS OF THE ECOVADIS ASSESSMENT:

Taking part in the EcoVadis assessment is not just a tick-in-the-box process; it is rather an opportunity: do you want to have a clear, strategic view of how your business performed in sustainability, and where it could do better? Companies that invest in this process will often find value far beyond the score itself.

1.Increased Brand Reputation: A good EcoVadis score sends the message loud and clear to customers, partners, and the public that you take sustainability seriously-and you can back up that claim.

This further approach lends credibility to engage with ESG-conscious clients and might help in carving out a niche for your brand in markets with different competitors.

2.Better Risk Management: The assessment identifies gaps and weaknesses in your environment, labor, ethics, and procurement. If you solve those risks beforehand, your business will, henceforth, be protected from costly interruptions, regulatory issues, or broken stakeholder relations.

3.Competitive Advantage: Sustainability performance is increasingly becoming a factor in deciding.

A high rating can give your company an edge over others when it comes to procurement decisions, long-term contracts, and strategic partnerships.

4.Improved Supply Chain Visibility: For companies that operate extensive supplier networks, EcoVadis can offer a common way to judge and improve supplier sustainability. The platform further enables you to hold suppliers accountable to your values, ensuring that values are aligned at every stage of the value chain.

5.Increased Stakeholder Trust: Investors, regulators, procurement leaders’ transparency and accountability are expectations on their part. An EcoVadis rating stands as verified proof of your ESG maturity, facilitating easy financing, fulfilling disclosures, and building long-term trust.

The EcoVadis scoring method is more than a sustainability checklist; it is an enabling framework that gives companies insight into, demonstrates, and assists in the continuous improvement of ESG performance across 21 key criteria. Ranging from environmental impact, labor practices, ethics, and responsible sourcing, the assessment offers a balanced, globally accepted view of how a business operates. In undertaking this commitment, companies go beyond the expectations of external parties and embark on a journey of internal clarity, reducing risk, and preparing themselves for the long-term business landscape where sustainability is anything but optional. Whether you wish to enhance stakeholder trust, secure firms in the competitive landscape, or act as a responsible lead, good EcoVadis scoring will act as a strategic differentiator.

Want to learn more about the EcoVadis methodology and what it means for your business? Explore our full insights and practical guides on sustainable certification.
 Read the full EcoVadis blog

HOW 4C CONSULTING HELPS YOU EXCEL IN ECOVADIS SUSTAINABILITY RATINGS?

4C Consulting helps organizations confidently manage the EcoVadis sustainability assessment with a structured, evidence-based approach. With over 20 years of consulting experience, we’ve supported 3,000+ companies in ISO implementation, delivered 50,000+ hours of training, and guided 5,000+ organizations on ESG and compliance. We align your documentation, address key gaps, and strengthen supplier engagement across all four EcoVadis themes—Environment, Labour & Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement, trust of 500+ sustainability-driven clients, we prepare your business to be audit-ready and positioned for higher EcoVadis scores.