| Product life-cycle impacts | A product-specific Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), with its underlying life-cycle assessment (LCA) scope and product category rules. | Confirm the declared product and manufacturing site match the item being sourced. Check the functional or declared unit, system boundary, reporting period, and whether the EPD is independently verified. | ISO 14025; ISO 14040 and ISO 14044. Construction-product EPDs commonly use EN 15804 where applicable. | Product-specific, verified evidence |
| Comparability of environmental claims | EPDs prepared under the same applicable product category rules, with consistent declared units and life-cycle boundaries. | Do not rank products using headline carbon figures alone when their boundaries, units, assumptions, or category rules differ. | ISO 14025; relevant product category rules (PCRs). | Comparable only on a like-for-like basis |
| Operational greenhouse-gas emissions | Annual Scope 1 and Scope 2 inventory, including the organizational boundary, reporting year, calculation method, and any assurance statement. | Check whether Scope 2 is reported using location-based and market-based methods where applicable. Review changes in boundary or methodology across years. | GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard; GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance. | Defined boundary and annual data |
| Value-chain greenhouse-gas emissions | Scope 3 inventory, category coverage, calculation methods, data sources, and explanations for excluded or estimated categories. | For technology supply chains, examine relevant purchased goods and services, capital goods, upstream transport, and other material categories. Distinguish supplier-specific data from industry-average estimates. | GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard. | Coverage and data quality disclosed |
| Renewable electricity claims | Electricity consumption records and the instruments or contractual arrangements used to support renewable-electricity claims. | Check market boundaries, certificate attributes, vintage, ownership, and whether claims are reported consistently with the company’s Scope 2 method. | GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance. | Claim supported by auditable records |
| Material and component traceability | Bill of materials, supplier and processing-site records, chain-of-custody documentation, and batch or lot identifiers for material claims. | Trace claimed recycled, responsible, or lower-impact materials through relevant processing steps. Check whether records cover the actual product, facility, and delivery period. | Applicable material-specific certification and chain-of-custody rules; review the scheme scope and certificate validity. | Traceable to the claimed source or batch |
| Recycled-content claims | Documented calculation method and supporting evidence for pre-consumer and post-consumer recycled content. | Confirm definitions, mass-balance or segregation approach, product boundaries, and whether the stated percentage is independently verified. | Applicable product standards and certification rules; ISO 14021 for self-declared environmental claims. | Method and evidence clearly stated |
| Third-party review and transparency | Verification or assurance statements identifying the subject matter, standard, verifier, scope, and reporting period. | Distinguish independent verification from internal review. Ensure the assurance scope covers the specific environmental information being used for procurement. | Relevant EPD program rules and applicable assurance standards. | Scope of review is explicit |
| Procurement decision | A consistent evidence pack covering product impacts, corporate emissions, material traceability, and data limitations. | Compare suppliers only after aligning product specification, reporting boundaries, units, time periods, and evidence quality. Treat missing information as unverified, not as zero impact. | Documented buyer criteria and applicable product-specific requirements. | Evidence-led comparison |