Hot Button Report / Criteria Guide

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Criteria guide

Hot Button

  1. Completion of CanopyStyle Third-Party Verification Audits

    1. The company is actively completing or has completed its independent third-party verification audit, with desktop, mill, or supplier site visits.

    2. The company has published the results of the audit report, and has adopted a detailed action plan to implement recommendations. The action plan is updated annually, in consultation with Canopy.

    3. Canopy’s analysis of the audit findings, and of the producer's actions on issues raised in the audit, results in low risk of sourcing from Ancient and Endangered Forests and other controversial sources.

  2. Contribution to Conservation Legacies

    1. The company actively promotes its commitment to the conservation of Ancient and Endangered Forests, including key forests regions, on its website and other media. It is a vocal advocate for conservation of Ancient and Endangered Forests within relevant public forums, panels, and other venues.

    2. The company publicly supports ambitious international conservation targets, and the actions required to meet them.

    3. When prompted, the company uses its influence with supply chain partners and decision makers to support long-term conservation solutions.

    4. The company's actions directly contribute to conservation planning and increased legislated protection in key Ancient and Endangered Forests.

    5. Some companies have an extra obligation regarding conservation legacies, because their assets or previous investments are located within, or in proximity to Ancient and Endangered Forests.

  3. Innovation via New Alternative Fibres

    1. The company is an advocate of the circular economy and the use of alternative fibres, and is developing partnerships with brands, academics, and ENGO's to advance the use of new and existing alternative fibres.

    2. The company is investing in research and development for use of alternative fibres, and is at the development, prototype, or laboratory-testing phase.

    3. The company has launched at least one Next Gen product, available for purchase on a commercial scale.

    4. The company has targets and timelines in place for increasing the use of “NextGen” alternative fibres, as reflected in CanopyStyle’s annual MMCF Producer NextGen survey and supplemental documents.

    5. Next Generation fibres represent at least 10% of the Company’s pulp use, by volume.

    6. The company is proportionally contributing to the collective goal of increasing man-made cellulosic fibre (MMCF) produced from Next Generation feedstock content, moving toward the CanopyStyle Vision of 50% of all viscose being made from Next Generation feedstocks by 2030.

    7. The company is aggressively increasing the commercial scale of innovative and alternative fibres available to customers, at a price that allows for strong market uptake.

  4. Adoption of Robust Forest Sourcing Policy

    1. The company has formalized a policy commitment not to source from the world's Ancient and Endangered Forests and other controversial sources, is promoting it on its website, and is requiring compliance from its suppliers.

    2. The producer's policy meets all the CanopyStyle criteria.

  5. Traceability & Transparency

    1. The company has put in place a track and trace system that allows partners in the supply chain to trace the fibre used back to the forest of origin.

    2. The company has publicly shared their list of suppliers, and the name and location of all the pulp mills they are sourcing from.

    3. The company conducts due diligence and makes decisions to source based on an analysis of the risk associated with their suppliers, with sourcing to be later confirmed, and final risk levels to be assigned, by audit.

  6. Leaders in Supply Chain Shifts

    1. The producer is proactively reaching out to Canopy to seek opportunities to advance solutions to reduce pressure on the world’s forests and meet new marketplace requirements. The producer inspires leadership with supply chain partners and competitors.

    2. Where new wood fibre is required as an input, the producer gives preference to sourcing from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified forests, and increases the proportion of FSC-certified fibre year over year.

    3. The company publicly supports Canopy’s ForestMapper and has used it to conduct a risk assessment of their supply.

    4. The company uses the Dissolving Pulp Mill Classification Tool, and other available information, to conduct a risk assessment of their supply. The company shares this assessment with Canopy and engages suppliers to mitigate risks when required.

  7. Associated with High Risk of Sourcing from Ancient and Endangered Forests and other Controversial Sources

    1. The company is sourcing from Ancient and Endangered Forests or from a company associated with controversial sources in key Ancient and Endangered Forests such as the Boreal forests, coastal temperate rainforests, or tropical forests of Indonesia. (NOTE THIS IS A NEGATIVE CRITERIA THAT WOULD LEAD TO A REDUCTION OF UP TO 5 BUTTONS. ACTION TAKEN TO ADDRESS AND ELIMINATE RISK WILL BE REFLECTED IN THE FINAL SCORE).

Sustainable chemical management

  1. The company is an active participant in ZDHC, where all of their viscose staple fibre and modal staple fibre facilities have joined the ZDHC Supplier Platform and have access to the MMCF Module.

  2. All of the company’s MMCF viscose staple fibre and modal staple fibre facilities have reached at least the Progressive level in their chemical recovery parameters and limit value, according to Chapter 1: ZDHC MMCF Responsible Fibre Production Guidelines V2.2

  3. All of the company’s MMCF viscose staple fibre and modal staple fibre facilities have reached at least the Progressive level in their wastewater discharge parameters and limit values, according to Chapter 2: ZDHC MMCF Wastewater Guidelines V2.2

  4. All of the company’s viscose staple fibre and modal staple fibre facilities have reached at least the Progressive level in their hazardous chemicals’ air emissions parameters and limit values, according to Chapter 3: ZDHC MMCF Air Emissions Guidelines V2.2

Criteria Explained

Hot button

The 2024 Hot Button Report is compiled using the consistent application of the tools and standards of the CanopyStyle initiative, including the CanopyStyle Audit. 

The audit uses a risk-based approach and requires verifiable evidence that wood and pulp used by MMCF producers meet the requirements of a robust verification framework. The audit standard and process were developed by Canopy, in partnership with Preferred by Nature, and are supported by the CanopyStyle Leaders for Forest Conservation and brands, retailers, and designers looking to implement their sourcing policies for man-made cellulosic textiles.

The Hot Button Report reflects the growing commitment of the textile and fashion industry to look beyond simply mitigating risk. With the goals of making the MMCF supply chain more sustainable, as well as institutionalizing the long-term solutions required for a stable future for the world’s Ancient and Endangered Forests, the ranking focuses on:

  • Producers’ level of risk of sourcing from key areas of Ancient and Endangered Forests and other controversial sources.
  • Producers’ leadership on advancing, advocating for, and helping to secure conservation legacies.
  • Producers’ work to realize the commercial-scale production of fibres using innovative and alternative feedstocks, such as leftover straw, microbial cellulose, or post-consumer recycled clothing.

The assessment analyzes measurable actions by producers, and the methodology is transparent and replicable. Merit-point buttons are awarded based on the degree of completion of the elements contained in the above table.

Prior to the publication of this report, each producer is provided with a draft of their rating, to allow for their review. In addition to this review period, Canopy suggests actions each producer can take to improve their score and standing. Hence, an opportunity is provided for MMCF producers to gain more points (buttons), and acquire ‘shirts’ that signal better performance, indicated by a deeper shade of green.

In order to accurately reflect supply chain risk and threats to forests, producers that are known or confirmed by the CanopyStyle Audits to be using pulp that is at high risk of sourcing from Ancient and Endangered Forests and other controversial sources will show partially red shirt colours, even if they have been able to surpass a threshold of ten buttons.

We recognize the significant operational effort that is involved in achieving a full dark green shirt. In addition to exemplary leadership in accelerating Next Generation Solutions and advancing substantive on-the-ground conservation, all dark green shirt producers require deep corporate-wide commitment. It should be noted that starting in the 2025 edition of the Hot Button Report, the following additional criteria will be required of producers to achieve a full dark green shirt:

  • All sourcing must be low risk of sourcing from Ancient and Endangered Forests.
  • If a producer had previously been sourcing or been linked to a risk of sourcing from areas of Ancient and Endangered Forests, a third-party CanopyStyle verification audit must confirm that these risks have been fully addressed and eliminated, which may include the implementation of adequate science-based conservation planning and FSC Forest Management certification.
  • All forest product supply chains that the company is directly involved with, and all corporate entities within the company group, under one parent company, and/or associated with the MMCF producer must also be free of Ancient and Endangered Forests or controversial sources.

In 2025 Canopy will commence a revision process of all Hot Button criteria. Criteria may change as a result of this review and will reflect the leadership achieved in the MMCF sector since the launch of the Hot Button in 2016.  

Criteria Explained

Chemical Use and Emissions – Adopting and Implementing ZDHC Guidelines 

With the release of the ZDHC MMCF Guidelines V2.0, V2.1 and V2.2 in 2023, the Chemical Management Progress Criteria has been updated to align with the ZDHC MMCF Guidelines V2.2 and ZDHC MMCF Guidelines Industry Standard Implementation Approach V2.1. 

This means the Chemical Management Progress Criteria will gauge a producer’s performance through their engagement with ZDHC, and their results in chemical recovery, wastewater, and air emissions following the ZDHC MMCF Guidelines V2.2 chapters and norms and limit values. 

This chemical management results in this year’s Hot Button Report will focus on viscose and modal staple fibre production only and assess whether these facilities have reached the Progressive level in each area (i.e. C2, C3, and C4), following the ZDHC MMCF Guidelines Industry Standard Implementation Approach V2.1. Other MMCFs such as viscose filament yarn, lyocell, acetate, and cupro will not be assessed this year and will receive an asterisk with N/A (Not Applicable) symbol. 

Furthermore, since the MMCF Module assessment can only be conducted at the end of the reporting year, MMCF producers’ chemical management performance (i.e. criteria) is based on the previous year’s findings. For example, in this year’s Hot Button Report (2024 Edition) the producers’ Chemical Management performance will be based on their 2023 performance. 

To learn more about how producers are assessed based on their ZDHC MMCF Module performance visit the following article: How is the facility’s performance on the ZDHC MMCF Module reflected on the Canopy Hot Button Report?

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