The challenge
In 2021, a U.S.-based specialty chemicals company received an EcoVadis disclosure request from a large customer. Determined to optimize their disclosure and improve their score in subsequent years, our client reached out to ADEC ESG for support. With a fledgling sustainability program already in place, the team sought guidance on navigating the questionnaire and setting a solid foundation for future reporting, from setting internal policies to establishing a robust system for documentation.
Our solution
EcoVadis is a cloud-based environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting software used by over 1,400 organizations to assess and monitor their supply chains worldwide. The platform helps companies monitor increasingly complex global supply chains through supplier questionnaires—and also provides support directly to those suppliers to help both sides of the coin achieve their sustainability goals. Over 150,000 companies have been rated by EcoVadis.
While this was our client’s first year disclosing through EcoVadis, its team had already earned a number of certifications that they consistently built upon year over year, with a specific emphasis on food safety and quality. EcoVadis disclosure would help expand the company’s overall sustainability management program, requiring its team to take a close look at actions, policies, and other measures that were already in place and driving them to enact improvements. To start this process, we worked with them to take the following steps:
- A gap analysis to help identify areas for improvement within the client’s reporting program.
- Documentation updates and improvements that catered to the client’s long-term goals, including EcoVadis performance.
- Full disclosure completion by the ADEC ESG team to minimize the burden on the client’s internal resources.
Ultimately, the reporting process had an effect on the client’s entire sustainability management program. Analyzing the program through the lens of EcoVadis’ core management pillars (Policies, Actions, and Results), we guided the client team in identifying and understanding gaps across four themes: Environment, Labor and Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement. The process of completing EcoVadis’ disclosure and working to meet its criteria inherently involved diving deep into the client’s overall sustainability program and taking steps to improve from the ground up.
Gap analysis
As a part of our gap analysis, the ADEC ESG team performed a comprehensive review of the client’s sustainability management program with EcoVadis’ methodology in mind. From there, we outlined specific gaps, developed an improvement roadmap, and provided formal recommendations on how to enhance strategy, policies and initiatives, documentation, and data to meet EcoVadis criteria.
Documentation management
A key part of the improvement roadmap that was developed as a part of our gap analysis was streamlining data management to support essential, EcoVadis-aligned policies that were already in place and pave the way for future disclosure. Collaborating closely with the client team, we went through the process of reorganizing and reshaping disparate internal systems, establishing processes that ensured that critical documents were trackable and manageable year over year.
We also supported the client team in updating key performance indicator (KPI) documentation, including environmental metrics totals such as emissions and energy, water use, non-hazardous waste, and waste recovery. These updated documents incorporated long-term initiatives and were used to improve the client’s EcoVadis submission and future reporting. Environmental metrics were also publicized for the first time on the client’s website, improving transparency and open communication on sustainability data.
EcoVadis disclosure completion
Our client’s team entrusted their full EcoVadis disclosure to our team of experts. ADEC ESG led project management, research, response drafting, and quality assurance in line with the client’s goals and EcoVadis’ methodology. This included regular check-ins and working sessions that bridged the gap between internal teams, drafting responses to the questionnaire, and uploading the full response into the EcoVadis portal for final submission. We also provided feedback which served as the basis for parts of the client’s online communication on sustainability.
Between 2021 and 2025 disclosures, our client saw a 15% overall score improvement on its EcoVadis scorecard, with a level of performance that placed the company in the top 35% of reporting organizations across all industries. With our support, our client also earned an EcoVadis badge, representing a solid commitment to sustainability and setting it apart from other responders.
Over time, EcoVadis has become an increasingly integral part of our client’s overall sustainability program. The client team has received a growing number of requests for EcoVadis disclosure from additional customers, and setting a solid foundation in 2021 has helped propel them to success in the following years.
Results and deliverables
- EcoVadis Gap Analysis
- EcoVadis Full Disclosure Completion
- 15% Overall Score Improvement (2021-2025)
- Document Management for Streamlined EcoVadis Reporting
