Do you want to continue?

Do you have your results?

Please be careful! Your work will be lost if you exit the assessment tool without completion. completing all questions.

If you’re not a member of Circular Clothing, please ensure you have downloaded your product’s circularity readiness results.

To receive your product’s Cradle to Cradle® readiness result, select continue, otherwise exit to return to the homepage.

Once you exit this page, your product’s assessment results will be lost.

Lets give your product a name

In order to send your results via email, please provide us with some additional information.

Exit Assessment

Step 1: Choose your product

Choose the product category and select the product type you want to evaluate.

Fashion
Activewear
Home Textile
Hats
Bottoms
Shorts
Shirt
Top
Outerwear
Dress
Other
Bottoms
Shorts
Tank
Active Top
Active Outerwear
Other
Bedsheet
Curtains
Towel
Top
Other
Hats
Shorts
Scarfs
Backpack
Other
Exit Assessment

Step 2: Assess your product Step 3: See your readiness

Think about your product’s lifecycle. What are you doing to ensure circularity?

Select the first category you wish to assess your product in and answer all the questions for each category until you reach the end of the assessment.

You have reached the end of your product assessment! You can now see how ready your product is to start your cradle to Cradle to Cradle® certification journey.

REVIEW RESULTS
Product
Material Health Overview Helper Popup Overview Helper Popup
Circular Product Design
Renewable Energy
Water Stewardship and Soil

Material Health

About this category

The Cradle to Cradle® material health category focuses on all the material components in a product and addresses the elements that need to be evaluated. It’s crucial that material properties are known, and the metabolic pathway identified, either as a technical nutrient or as a biological nutrient for the product and its components.

Biological cycle – The cycle by which materials or parts are released into the environment via composting, biodegradation, nutrient extraction, and/or other biological metabolic pathways.

Technical cycle – The cycle by which a product’s materials or parts are reprocessed for a new product use cycle via recycling, repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing, or reuse.

Another requirement is knowing if any ‘banned list’ chemicals are present in the product. This is because Cradle to Cradle® material health requires products to be free of harmful chemicals and only contain substances that are safe for both people and the environment. Therefore, a phase-out or optimization strategy for removing hazardous materials must be developed.

Understanding the material health of your products allows all the supply chain actors to take into account the impact of manufactured goods at each stage of the life cycle, from production, to use, consumption and disposal. In order to comply with the material health standards, manufacturers must disclose information about product ingredients, avoid chemicals of concern, and commit to continue making improvements in their materials.

LINK TO CRADLE TO CRADLE MATERIAL HEALTH

Circular Product Design

About this category

The circular product design category refers to products being intentionally designed for several reuse opportunities. Garments should be able to be actively recycled into a new product and fit into either a biological or technical cycling pathway. By applying calculated design decisions, the materials, once at the end of its use phase, will retain their value and move through multiple cycles of use.

Product manufacturers must demonstrate their commitment to a circular product design to increase product and material recycling rates and/or better quality materials for recycling. Designers should be using more circular or renewable materials, helping to close the loop and advance the circular economy. This should increase demand for circularly-sourced materials and consequently, reduce the negative impacts of virgin materials. For example, If the product is designed for easy disassembly, it is more likely that a large amount of the materials in the product will be recycled.

Lastly, circularity information for proper end-of-use handling of the product should be available, increasing the likelihood that the product’s materials will be actively recovered and processed for the next cycle of use. This can come in the form of a digital product passport allowing the traceability of a garment.

LINK TO CRADLE TO CRADLE CIRCULAR PRODUCT DESIGN

Renewable Energy

About this category

This category focuses on using renewable energies and addressing greenhouse gas emissions. Product manufacturing has a significant impact on air quality, so best practice air emission protocols should be followed during the final stages of production.

During the final manufacturing stage, electricity use and greenhouse gas emissions from the product must also be quantified and verified. This means a specific number can be measured and used to help identify areas for improvement.

To comply with the requirements in this category, renewable energy targets have to be set, and align with the international climate goals. Therefore, providing the opportunity to increase the amount of renewable energy used to manufacture products and reduce the offset of greenhouse gasses.

The transition to clean, renewable energy sources will have a positive impact on air quality since burning fuels is the primary contributor. Consequently, this will lead to stronger renewable energy usage and a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to climate change.

Water Stewardship and Soil

About this category

In the EU, the consumption of textiles, most of which are imported, now accounts on average for the fourth-highest negative impact on the environment and on climate change and the third-highest for water and land use from a global life cycle perspective. (EUR-Lex, 2022)

The water stewardship and soil category focuses on treating water as a precious resource and ensuring clean water is available to people and all other organisms. Improving wastewater quality and using water more efficiently therefor play a vital role in this category. In order to accomplish this, it is important to address water quality and quantity issues where they occur. This is whether they originate at final production facilities or in the supply chain.

In order to identify opportunities for improvement, water discharges and consumption associated with a product’s manufacturing should be measured and quantified. Water and soil stewardship strategies must be developed, providing a roadmap to operate in a manner that protects water and soil.

In addition, manufacturers and suppliers are required to provide drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene to all employees. A major key to addressing water-related challenges is to encourage collaboration, for example, through participating in collective projects.

EUR-Lex – 52022DC0141 – EN – EUR-Lex. (2022, March 30). Environment.Ec.Europa.

LINK TO CRADLE TO CRADLE WATER STEWARDSHIP AND SOIL

Social Fairness

About this category

Social fairness refers to promoting social justice and good working conditions for employees. Manufacturers are committed to upholding human rights and applying responsible business practices to all stakeholders. During production, the use phase, and the disposal of products, businesses should consider the wellbeing of their employees. Social principles should be implemented, such as fair living wages and improved living conditions for employees.

As well, human rights risks must be monitored and opportunities for improvement identified throughout all stages of manufacturing. Performance in upholding human rights must also be monitored and there must be high levels of assurance that risks to human rights are addressed.

Businesses must foster a culture of social justice and the use of responsible business practices that respect human rights and improve business practices for all stakeholders. It should be possible for employees, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders to safely report concerns related to social justice and fairness.

BACK TO AREA OVERVIEW
Exit Assessment

Step 2: Assess your product

Select the items that are not part of your product and confirm that you want to remove them.

Product
Thread
Thread
Glue
Glue
Buttons
Buttons
Elastic
Elastic
Dye
Dye
Base Fabric
Base Fabric
Zip
Zip
Finishing Chemicals
Finishing Chemicals
Hang Tag
Hang Tag
Interfacing
Interfacing
Care Label
Care Label
Exit Assessment

Step 2: Assess your product

Material Health 1/5

Can you identify which metabolism each component can be applied to, either the biological or technical cycle?

For every question indicate Yes, No, or I don’t know for each of your product components.

Product
Thread
Thread
Glue
Glue
Buttons
Buttons
Elastic
Elastic
Dye
Dye
Base Fabric
Base Fabric
Zip
Zip
Finishing Chemicals
Finishing Chemicals
Hang Tag
Hang Tag
Interfacing
Interfacing
Care Label
Care Label
Metabolism Cycles

Metabolism Cycles

Biological And Technical
Material Flows

Can a material safely re-enter the natural world?

The first thing that most people notice about the diagram is the separation into two distinct halves, or cycles, which represent two fundamentally distinct flows of material: biological and technical.

Biological materials – represented in green cycles on the left side of the diagram – are those materials that can safely re-enter the natural world, once they have gone through one or more use cycles, where they will biodegrade over time, returning the embedded nutrients to the environment.

Technical materials – represented in blue on the right hand side – cannot re-enter the environment. These materials, such as metals, plastics, and synthetic chemicals, must continuously cycle through the system so that their value can be captured and recaptured.

Metabolism Cycles

https://archive.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/explore/the-circular-economy-in-detail

Exit Assessment

Step 2: Assess your product

Material Health 2/5

Are the product components free from banned chemicals?

For every question indicate Yes, No, or I don’t know for each of your product components.

Product
Thread
Thread
Glue
Glue
Buttons
Buttons
Elastic
Elastic
Dye
Dye
Base Fabric
Base Fabric
Zip
Zip
Finishing Chemicals
Finishing Chemicals
Hang Tag
Hang Tag
Interfacing
Interfacing
Care Label
Care Label
Metabolism Cycles

Banned Chemicals List

The following lists contain chemicals and substances that are banned for use in Cradle to Cradle Certified® standard.

These substances were selected due to hazardous characteristics associated with their manufacturing, use, and disposal. The intention of the “Banned Lists” is not to simply provide a checklist to eliminate chemicals of concern. Rather, it should be viewed as specific examples that may also be used to guide substitution.

Metabolism Cycles

https://www.c2ccertified.org/resources/detail/cradle-to-cradle-certified-banned-list-of-chemicals

Exit Assessment

Step 2: Assess your product

Material Health 3/5

Do you know the bill of materials and compositions for each component?

For every question indicate Yes, No, or I don’t know for each of your product components.

Product
Thread
Thread
Glue
Glue
Buttons
Buttons
Elastic
Elastic
Dye
Dye
Base Fabric
Base Fabric
Zip
Zip
Finishing Chemicals
Finishing Chemicals
Hang Tag
Hang Tag
Interfacing
Interfacing
Care Label
Care Label
Exit Assessment

Step 2: Assess your product

Material Health 4/5

Select the relevant certification if it applies to this garment.

For every question indicate Yes, No, or I don’t know for each of your product components.

Product
Exit Assessment

Step 2: Assess your product

Material Health 5/5

Has the welfare of animals been protected during all production phases?

For every question indicate Yes, No, or I don’t know for each of your product components.

Product
Thread
Thread
Glue
Glue
Buttons
Buttons
Elastic
Elastic
Dye
Dye
Base Fabric
Base Fabric
Zip
Zip
Finishing Chemicals
Finishing Chemicals
Hang Tag
Hang Tag
Interfacing
Interfacing
Care Label
Care Label
Exit Assessment

Step 2: Assess your product

Circular Product Design 1/5

Have you explored the potential of each product component becoming circular?

For every question indicate Yes, No, or I don’t know for each of your product components.

Product
Thread
Thread
Glue
Glue
Buttons
Buttons
Elastic
Elastic
Dye
Dye
Base Fabric
Base Fabric
Zip
Zip
Finishing Chemicals
Finishing Chemicals
Hang Tag
Hang Tag
Interfacing
Interfacing
Care Label
Care Label
Exit Assessment

Step 2: Assess your product

Circular Product Design 2/5

Can this component be made from recycled or renewable materials?

For every question indicate Yes, No, or I don’t know for each of your product components.

Product
Thread
Thread
Glue
Glue
Buttons
Buttons
Elastic
Elastic
Dye
Dye
Base Fabric
Base Fabric
Zip
Zip
Finishing Chemicals
Finishing Chemicals
Hang Tag
Hang Tag
Interfacing
Interfacing
Care Label
Care Label
Exit Assessment

Step 2: Assess your product

Circular Product Design 3/5

Have the product components been designed and selected in a way to create more end-of-use cycling opportunities?

For every question indicate Yes, No, or I don’t know for each of your product components.

Product
Thread
Thread
Glue
Glue
Buttons
Buttons
Elastic
Elastic
Dye
Dye
Base Fabric
Base Fabric
Zip
Zip
Finishing Chemicals
Finishing Chemicals
Hang Tag
Hang Tag
Interfacing
Interfacing
Care Label
Care Label
Exit Assessment

Step 2: Assess your product

Circular Product Design 4/5

Do you have a system is in place to trace and support the cycling of this garment?

For every question indicate Yes, No, or I don’t know for each of your product components.

Product

Digital Product Passport

A digital product passport is a eco-system solution that tracks the entire journey of a product. Brands, retailers, and consumers can have access to a product’s raw material, origins and aftercare through a digital passport. Every physical item will have a unique digital identity. (Solutions, 2022)

A digital product passport will consist of a QR code label that would enhance the possibility of product reuse and recycling. When traceability is enabled, accurate information about each product can be made available so that various stakeholders across the supply chain can reuse it or properly dispose of it. In order for Europe to meet its climate goals, consumers and companies need to maintain the circulation of their products for as long as possible. So, incorporating a digital passport into your apparel will comply with the upcoming EU regulations and sustainable textiles strategies.

Solutions. (2022). Atma.Io. https://www.atma.io/solutions

Exit Assessment

Step 2: Assess your product

Circular Product Design 5/5

Can the different components in this product be easily disassembled and processed for another cycle?

For every question indicate Yes, No, or I don’t know for each of your product components.

Product
Thread
Thread
Glue
Glue
Buttons
Buttons
Elastic
Elastic
Dye
Dye
Base Fabric
Base Fabric
Zip
Zip
Finishing Chemicals
Finishing Chemicals
Hang Tag
Hang Tag
Interfacing
Interfacing
Care Label
Care Label
Exit Assessment

Step 2: Assess your product

Renewable Energy 1/5

Are you aware if this product complies with any air emissions regulations or guidelines?

For every question indicate Yes, No, or I don’t know for each of your product components.

Product
Exit Assessment

Step 2: Assess your product

Renewable Energy 2/5

Can you prove how much energy has been used to make this product?

For every question indicate Yes, No, or I don’t know for each of your product components.

Product
Exit Assessment

Step 2: Assess your product

Renewable Energy 3/5

Are you aware If any renewable energy goals or strategies were set during the manufacturing of your product?

For every question indicate Yes, No, or I don’t know for each of your product components.

Product
Exit Assessment

Step 2: Assess your product

Renewable Energy 4/5

Can you prove if renewable energy was used during the manufacturing of this product?

For every question indicate Yes, No, or I don’t know for each of your product components.

Product
Exit Assessment

Step 2: Assess your product

Renewable Energy 5/5

Do you have greenhouse gas emission data available for the manufacturing phase of your product?

For every question indicate Yes, No, or I don’t know for each of your product components.

Product
Exit Assessment

Step 2: Assess your product

Water Stewardship & Soil 1/5

Was the manufacturing process optimised to minimise effluent (waste water)?

For every question indicate Yes, No, or I don’t know for each of your product components.

Product
Thread
Thread
Glue
Glue
Buttons
Buttons
Elastic
Elastic
Dye
Dye
Base Fabric
Base Fabric
Zip
Zip
Finishing Chemicals
Finishing Chemicals
Hang Tag
Hang Tag
Interfacing
Interfacing
Care Label
Care Label
Exit Assessment

Step 2: Assess your product

Water Stewardship & Soil 2/5

Can you quantify and provide data for the amount of water used and discharged during the production of this product?

For every question indicate Yes, No, or I don’t know for each of your product components.

Product
Exit Assessment

Step 2: Assess your product

Water Stewardship & Soil 3/5

Has this product been manufactured in facilities that offer workers access to drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene?

For every question indicate Yes, No, or I don’t know for each of your product components.

Product
Exit Assessment

Step 2: Assess your product

Water Stewardship & Soil 4/5

Are there any measures in place to protect the water and soil (if applicable) associated with this product?

For every question indicate Yes, No, or I don’t know for each of your product components.

Product
Exit Assessment

Step 2: Assess your product

Water Stewardship & Soil 5/5

Have chemicals entering water and soils been evaluated and selected based on their safety during the manufacturing phase?

For every question indicate Yes, No, or I don’t know for each of your product components.

Product
Exit Assessment

Step 3: See your readiness

You have reached the end of your product assessment! You can now see how ready your product is to start your cradle to Cradle to Cradle® certification journey.

Material Health
Circular Product Design
Renewable Energy
Water Stewardship and Soil
Social Fairness
ASSESS ANOTHER PRODUCT
Exit Assessment

Step 4: Improve your product

You have successfully completed your product assessment journey! It’s time for you to move on to the next step and see how you can improve your product to make it fully circular.

Get in touch with us to find out how we can improve your product!

E-mail: Info@circularclothing.org

step 1 step 2 step 3 step 4 step all
Step 1:
Choose your product
Step 2:
Assess your product
Step 3:
Review Your Readiness
Step 4:
Improve your product