Higg FEM verification

Cascale (formerly known as Sustainable Apparel Coalition) is the apparel, footwear, and textile industry’s leading alliance for sustainable production.  Cascale developed the Higg Index Facility Environmental Module (FEM) to offer insights to manufacturers, owners, and retailers of individual facilities about the overall social and environmental impact of those facilities.

As a sustainability self-assessment tool, the Higg Index FEM standardises how facilities measure and evaluate their environmental performance, year over year. It helps stakeholders augment sustainability improvements across the supply chain. All members of Cascale recognise the FEM.

The Higg Index FEM covers the following seven key areas of a business’s sustainable performance as per international best practices:

• Environmental management System
• Energy and greenhouse gas (GHG)
• Water
• Wastewater
• Air emissions
• Waste
• Chemicals management

The Higg Index FEM quantifies the environmental impact of manufacturing facilities in the textile, apparel, garment, footwear, and leather sectors. It reduces redundancy in measuring and reporting sustainability performance. It drives business value by reducing risks and uncovering inefficiencies.

Verification ensures that the data provided in the FEM self-assessment is credible and accurate. This helps companies and facilities gain trust and confidence in the information they share publicly. Trusted information is vital for making informed decisions and driving sustainability improvements.

Furthermore, verification creates a common language for communicating about your sustainability measures and initiatives to various stakeholders. The data becomes more consistent and comparable, so that the assessment process produces reliable and accurate outcomes. When more stakeholders participate, this improves industry-wide transparency, allowing companies to benchmark against one another and identify areas to make changes to reduce their environmental footprint.

TÜV SÜD supports companies as an independent third-party verifier of Higg Index FEM verification. As an organisation, we are committed to promoting sustainability and transparency in your supply chain. Our experienced lead verifiers have the most appropriate skills for evaluating your Higg FEM self-assessment.

TÜV SÜD’s Higg FEM verification process ensures that facilities accurately complete all parts of the Higg Index FEM self-assessment, giving their self-assessment the credibility and accuracy required to share it publicly.

TÜV SÜD conducts authorised verification of Higg Index FEM self-assessment results, enabling facilities to develop and maintain a sustainable and responsible supply chain.

• Desktop/Offsite verification – Conducted offsite by a qualified TÜV SÜD General verifier/chemical specialist verifier. Before preferring an offsite verification, the facility should obtain the confirmation from relevant business partners that “they will not be expected to complete an onsite verification by verification body”.
• Onsite verification – A more robust review, conducted by TÜV SÜD verifier/chemical specialist verifier who will visit the facility.

This year-on-year verification ensures that the organisation continually improves its reduction of wastes (Bio/non-biodegradable/hazardous), energy consumption, water consumption, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and cost of production per unit of production.

The Higg facility environmental module (FEM) verification process is a means to ensure the credibility and accuracy of the self-assessment completed by facilities using the Higg Index FEM. The process involves reviewing the answers to the self-assessment and determining their accuracy through an on-site assessment conducted by a third- or second-party Cascale-approved verifier. Here is an overview of the Higg FEM verification process:

• Verification introduction – Verification ensures that all parts of the Higg self-assessment are accurately completed, giving the self-assessment the credibility and accuracy required to share it publicly. The verifier is responsible for validating the accuracy of the assessment.
• Higg FEM verification and quality assurance protocols – The Higg FEM verification protocol outlines the verification mindset, details on onsite and offsite verification, person-day guidance for conducting verification, and other important details. The Higg FEM ethics integrity protocol outlines how ethics investigations are conducted and provides contact details for reporting ethics issues.
• On-site Assessment – The verification process involves an on-site assessment conducted by the verifier. During the on-site assessment, the verifier reviews the facility's operations, practices, and data to validate the accuracy of the self-assessment.
• Data Validation – The goal of the verification is to validate the collected data for accurate Higg scoring, maximising certainty, and minimising risk. The verified data and scores provide trusted information on the facility's environmental performance.