Eco-Reinforcement Requirements
The Eco-Reinforcement Standard assesses against a number of different organisational, supply chain, environmental and social criteria, with some defined as compulsory and others voluntary or ‘tradeable'. Certificates are awarded on a ‘Pass', ‘Good', ‘Very Good' and ‘Excellent' scale based on the number of points awarded for different performance levels. Assessments can be undertaken for single products/sites, multiple products/sites or entire organisations.
Organisational and Supply Chain Criteria
The correct management systems are critical to enable suppliers to establish, implement and maintain procedures that address responsible sourcing principles. Organisations certified to the Eco-Reinforcement Standard will have policies and procedures in place for addressing their responsible sourcing commitments and legal requirements. They will also have certified quality management systems to ISO 9001 or equivalent and a system for approving and recording suppliers. A high percentage of materials within the assessed product will be traceable back to the source and organisations throughout the supply chain of the product will operate under recognised environmental and health & safety management systems such as ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001.
Environmental and Social Criteria
Responsible sourcing addresses not only the environmental impacts of a product but also the social impacts occurring as a result of the manufacturing/fabricating process. Organisations producing Eco-Reinforcement certified products will be committed to measuring their environmental and social impacts against a formal set of metrics and setting targets for their improvement as well as reporting their performance to stakeholders and verifying their data. Depending on the level of certification, a range of the following impacts will be addressed:
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- Resource Use
- Waste management
- Water extraction
- Life cycle assessment
- Transport
- Employment and Skills
- Local Communities
Who can be assessed against the scheme?
Any steel reinforcement producer or fabricator with the aim of measuring performance and committing to improve their responsible sourcing credentials can be assessed against the scheme - application details are available on the Standard Documents page. Currently, BRE Global are the only certification body offering assessment against the Standard but it is hoped that other certification bodies will come on board in future.
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