Foundational Environmental Performance (FEP) Technical Paper
This technical paper sets out the technical rationale behind the Foundational Environmental Performance (FEP) question set, which forms the basis of the FEP Module within the Higg FEM.
This technical paper sets out the technical rationale behind the Foundational Environmental Performance (FEP) question set, which forms the basis of the FEP Module within the Higg FEM.
How Golkaldas turns sustainability investment into tangible business performance.
For Gokaldas Exports (NSE: GOKEX), a Cascale Corporate member, sustainability has become closely intertwined with the company’s broader transformation.
Founded in 1979 and headquartered in Bengaluru, India, the apparel manufacturer operates across India, Kenya, and Ethiopia and serves over 20 global brands and retailers across more than 50 countries.
In a conversation for Cascale’s “Source of Good” podcast, Siva Ganapathi, vice chairman and managing director, described how the company’s transformation began around 2017, when management focused on strengthening factories, improving quality and delivery, investing in automation, and rebuilding customer confidence. As expectations from global brands continued to evolve, Gokaldas also needed to translate sustainability commitments into measurable, credible improvement across its manufacturing operations — while ensuring those investments supported the company’s broader business goals.
“We invested a lot in sustainability because we understood that brands are requiring it,” Ganapathi said on the “Source of Good” podcast. “It made environmental sense, it made social sense, and it made business sense.”
Sustainability, and Cascale membership, became an increasingly important part of Gokaldas’ investment strategy. Ganapathi explained that while sustainability initiatives existed previously, they were not a primary focus. As brand expectations evolved, Gokaldas increasingly viewed sustainability not only as an environmental and social responsibility, but also as a business imperative.
The challenge was to turn those growing expectations into consistent, measurable action across the company’s operations. That required reliable factory-level data, credible validation of reported performance, targeted investments in areas such as water and energy, and a structured pathway for advancing climate goals.
The company’s FY2024–25 Annual Report reflects this approach, identifying sustainability as a core component of its operating strategy and highlighting investments in energy, water, waste, sustainable sourcing, and circularity.
Data has become a central part of Gokaldas’ sustainability management. The company has used the Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM) to assess and benchmark environmental performance across its facilities, covering areas such as energy, water, waste, wastewater, air, and chemical management.
In the podcast, Ganapathi reported that Gokaldas’ average Higg FEM score increased to 91 percent in 2025, up from 89 percent in 2024. To achieve it, Gokaldas tracks performance at the factory level and focuses corrective action on facilities and areas where performance is weaker.
This reflects a progression from measuring sustainability performance to using standardized data as an operational management tool. It gives Gokaldas a consistent framework through which to identify performance gaps, compare results, and direct improvement efforts across its operations.
Gokaldas Exports subjects its Higg FEM-related environmental data to independent validation, strengthening the credibility of the information it uses to assess environmental performance. In its FY2024–25 Annual Report, the company states that it engaged Bureau Veritas, PDCA International Limited, and Teks Tech Inspection India Private Limited to validate its environmental data in accordance with Higg FEM 4.0. The validation covers reported environmental performance across areas including energy, water, wastewater, emissions, and waste.
Third-party verification plays a vital role in building confidence in environmental performance data. It provides independent assurance that Gokaldas sustainability data is accurate, reliable, and aligned with internationally recognized standards. This enhances transparency, strengthens trust with their customers and stakeholders, and demonstrates their commitment to accountability. More importantly, verified data supports informed decision-making and reinforces Gokaldas’ focus on continuous improvement, making it a key element of their sustainability journey.
Water is one of the areas where Gokaldas has made particularly significant progress. The company reports recycling 92 percent of process water in its laundry operations and has achieved a 40 percent reduction in water use in laundry operations through state-of-the-art machinery. Water intensity per kilogram of garment washed also decreased by 36 percent.
The company has implemented Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) systems and uses treated wastewater to reduce freshwater requirements. In the podcast, Ganapathi also noted that the company’s fabric-dyeing plants recycle approximately 96 percent of water.
These initiatives support Gokaldas’ goal of becoming water positive by 2030. The company’s current sustainability strategy identifies water as a priority alongside decarbonization and circularity.
The company has developed a robust and well-defined roadmap to achieve net zero emissions by 2045 and carbon neutrality by 2030, supported by clear milestones and strategic investments. Significant progress has been made through the increased procurement of renewable energy, Carbon offset strategy, implementation of energy-efficiency projects, and the gradual transition toward an electric fleet to reduce fossil fuel dependence.
Gokaldas Exports’ participation in Cascale’s Manufacturer Climate Action Program (MCAP) has helped strengthen the company’s approach to climate action by providing a structured pathway to establish science-aligned targets for Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
Through MCAP, manufacturers with guidance and support to measure emissions, develop and validate Scope 1 and 2 science-aligned targets, assess climate risks, and build actionable decarbonization plans. Gokaldas has combined target setting with practical work on energy efficiency, renewable energy, and resource management. The company has highlighted its progress in procuring renewable energy, improving machinery efficiency, and increasing water and waste recycling as part of its broader decarbonization efforts.
Listen to “The Business Advantage of Sustainability Investment with Gokaldas Exports”
Gokaldas Exports demonstrates how a manufacturer can integrate sustainability into a broader business transformation. By combining Higg FEM measurement and independent data validation with investments in water efficiency, renewable energy, operational improvements, and science-aligned climate targets through MCAP, the company is building sustainability into how it manages and grows its manufacturing operations.
Together, these efforts show how sustainability investment can support more disciplined, data-driven management while helping a manufacturer respond to customer expectations and prepare for long-term growth.
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How Coats uses the Higg FEM to measure environmental performance, engage suppliers, and advance circularity across global operations.
Coats® (LSE: COA) is a world-leading Tier 2 manufacturer and trusted partner for the apparel and footwear industries.
The company delivers essential materials, components, and software solutions that help its customers grow, compete, and win. Present in more than 50 countries and with a complex global supply chain, Coats has embedded sustainability into its business strategy — recognizing that consistent measurement and collaboration are essential to reducing environmental impacts and supporting long-term growth. Details in this case study are derived from Coats’ 2025 Sustainability Report and a Cascale “Source of Good” podcast interview with Chris Dearing, vice president of sustainability.
“The Higg FEM gives us a consistent, externally validated format for communicating environmental performance at facility level, providing greater transparency and credibility for the brands and Tier 1 customers we supply,” Dearing said.
Early in Coats’ decarbonization journey, the company made meaningful progress through energy efficiency improvements — optimizing boiler operations, reducing heat loss, optimizing compressed air systems, and tightening energy management across its global manufacturing network. Over time, however, Coats’ internal sustainability data showed that Scope 1 and 2 emissions were beginning to plateau. The efficiency gains that had supported the company’s early progress were no longer enough to sustain momentum toward its science-based targets.
Analysis from Coats’ in-house sustainability platform, which manages data from more than 60 business units, helped the company identify where progress had slowed and where more structural interventions were required. These included onsite solar generation, renewable electricity sourcing, and fuel-switching projects designed to reduce reliance on carbon-intensive energy sources.
Building on this internal analysis, the Higg FEM, which is governed by Cascale and delivered through Worldly’s global technology platform, provided Coats with a recognized and externally validated framework for communicating facility-level performance consistently to brands and Tier 1 customers. This strengthened transparency, comparability and confidence in the company’s environmental performance.
The results were significant. By 2025, Coats had reduced Scope 1 and 2 emissions by more than 50 percent from a 2019 baseline — a direct outcome of using consistent data to guide strategic decision-making.
As Dearing explained, “The Higg FEM gave us a consistent way to measure environmental performance across our sites. Once we had that foundation, we could start engaging suppliers using the same framework.”
As Coats strengthened environmental performance within its own operations, the company recognized that achieving its longer-term climate ambitions would require the same rigor further up the value chain — where a significant proportion of environmental impacts occur.
Coats expanded Higg FEM to strategic suppliers, giving both Coats and its suppliers a shared methodology for measuring facility-level environmental performance. The initiative supports Coats’ Supplier Decarbonisation Programme by helping suppliers understand their own emissions profiles, establish carbon inventories, and identify practical reduction opportunities. With a common framework in place, conversations between Coats and its suppliers can focus on improvement rather than on reconciling different measurement approaches.
This collaborative approach reflects a broader shift in how Coats approaches sustainability — from measuring direct operational impacts to driving improvements throughout the value chain.
Coats is also applying sustainability principles to product innovation, with circularity becoming an increasingly important focus.
The company has developed sewing threads containing recycled content and has launched its T2T Epic™ and T2T Gramax™ 100% recycled polyester threads, made from post-industrial and post-consumer textile waste to support textile-to-textile circularity. Rather than viewing recycled materials as a niche offering, Coats is working to incorporate circular principles into product development across multiple business segments.
Following its acquisition of Texon and Rhenoflex, Coats has expanded these efforts into structural footwear components and premium accessories.
Coats has also developed Rhenoprint™ RP Flow and RP Wave toe-box components, incorporating recycled content and more circular manufacturing approaches. Used in footwear applications such as toe puffs and heel counters, the product demonstrates how circular design principles can be applied to components that have traditionally relied on virgin materials — supporting customers’ own sustainability objectives while reducing waste across the value chain.
Coats’ experience illustrates how standardized environmental data creates a foundation for sustained progress — moving from early efficiency gains to structural decarbonization, and from internal performance improvement to supply chain engagement.
By using Higg FEM across its own operations and extending it to strategic suppliers, Coats has built a common language for sustainability performance that supports continuous improvement, strengthens supplier relationships, and enables more credible progress toward its SBTi-validated near-term and net-zero targets.
Listen: Why Sustainability Is a Supply Chain Story with Coats
Hear Chris Dearing discuss Coats’ sustainability journey — from measurement to decarbonization to circularity — on Cascale’s Source of Good podcast.
How Lenzing uses sustainability data to strengthen environmental performance, support ESRS reporting, and advance supply chain transparency.
As demand for transparent, lower-impact textile supply chains continues to grow, manufacturers are expected to provide increasingly detailed environmental data alongside high-performance materials.
Lenzing (VIE: LNZ) is a publicly traded global producer of wood-based specialty fibers – including TENCEL™, LENZING™ ECOVERO™ and VEOCEL™ – that has long prioritized sustainability as a core business strategy rather than a standalone initiative. As Thomas Matiz, product sustainability manager at Lenzing Group, explained on a Cascale “Source of Good” podcast episode, standardized sustainability data helps the company collaborate more effectively with customers while demonstrating environmental performance across its operations.
Lenzing’s Annual and Sustainability Report 2025 was prepared in accordance with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), in preparation for reporting obligations under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and in line with Austria’s Sustainability and Diversity Improvement Act (NaDiVeG). Within that report, Lenzing formally discloses its Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM) target and environmental performance across all production sites, demonstrating how standardized environmental data supports both regulatory reporting and customer transparency.
Lenzing combines responsible raw material sourcing, low-carbon manufacturing, digital traceability, and standardized environmental measurement to help customers meet evolving regulatory and market expectations. The company’s 2025 sustainability report aligns with ESRS requirements, strengthening transparency while providing investors, customers, and other stakeholders with consistent environmental information.
Global apparel brands increasingly require suppliers to provide credible, verified environmental data alongside high-performance materials. At the same time, new sustainability reporting requirements, including ESRS under the CSRD, raise expectations for companies to disclose standardized environmental information supported by robust governance and consistent methodologies.
For manufacturers operating multiple production facilities, collecting comparable environmental data while driving continuous improvement requires a common framework that supports operational management, customer reporting, and regulatory compliance.
Lenzing has long depended on the Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM), which is stewarded and governed by Cascale and implemented globally through the Worldly sustainability and supply chain intelligence platform, to monitor, track, and manage environmental performance across its manufacturing operations.
Through the tool, Lenzing is able to monitor environmental performance, reduce environmental risks, and identify opportunities to improve operational performance across production sites.
Lenzing formally discloses a continuous target to periodically update the Higg FEM across all nine pulp and fiber production sites. During 2025, the company completed both annual Higg FEM self-assessments and third-party verification at production sites, keeping the target on track.
The company also identifies customer expectations as an important driver of adoption. As Lenzing notes in its 2025 Sustainability Report, growing use of standardized environmental methodologies across the textile value chain has led many customers to request implementation of the Higg FEM and verified supplier environmental data.
“Reformation is known to provide sustainable clothing [and] they want to know where the products and the materials they use for the products come from…and how they are processed,” Thomas Matiz, product sustainability manager at Lenzing Group, explained on a Cascale “Source of Good” podcast episode. “By having this holistic perspective on the value chain and product creation, the basis was therefore for a good collaboration.”
Lenzing’s integrated approach to environmental measurement and transparent reporting helps customers better understand manufacturing performance while supporting continuous improvement across its global operations.
Key outcomes include:
Together, these efforts demonstrate how standardized environmental measurement can strengthen operational performance, meet evolving regulatory requirements, and provide customers with trusted sustainability data that supports more informed sourcing decisions.
Curious about Cascale membership and the benefits our members receive? Learn more → https://cascale.org/explore-membership/
How Dunelm uses Higg Index data to reduce supply chain emissions, engage suppliers, and advance circular product design.
Furniture has traditionally been difficult to repair or recycle, with many products ending up in landfills at the end of their useful life.
For Dunelm, a publicly-traded company that is one of the UK’s largest home furnishings retailers, that industry reality sat at the heart of a more specific business challenge. Sourcing and manufacturing account for approximately 60 percent of the company’s Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions — and without consistent, comparable data across a growing supplier base – it is difficult to know where to act first.
In response, Dunelm developed its Good & Circular approach to sustainability — a commitment to rethinking how products are designed, sourced, used, and recovered. Central to that strategy is a data-driven approach to supplier engagement: rather than relying on spend-based emissions estimates, Dunelm adopted Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM) through its Better Manufacturing program to build a credible, comparable picture of environmental performance across its supply chain. In this case study, we go deeper on how Dunelm used circular design, supplier collaboration, and Higg Index data to reduce environmental impact and create products that last longer.
Dunelm launched its Better Manufacturing program in FY24, adopting the Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM) as the shared measurement framework across its Tier 1 supplier base. Part of the Higg Index — a suite of frameworks and methodologies stewarded and governed by Cascale and delivered globally through Worldly’s technology platform — the Higg FEM enables suppliers to assess, track, and improve performance across key environmental areas, including energy, water, waste, and carbon.
Rather than developing a proprietary assessment system, Dunelm chose an industry-standard tool — one that suppliers could share with other brands, reducing duplication and lowering the barrier to adoption.
As Lisa Ly, senior sustainability manager at Dunelm, explained on Cascale’s Source of Good podcast: “For our suppliers, having one tool that can be shared among other brands and retailers is a huge benefit. Before we even started, we did a bit of a survey to figure out how many of our suppliers were already using it, and it was like 15 percent of our Tier 1. So that gave us confidence.”
In FY25, Dunelm extended Higg FEM to its own UK made-to-measure manufacturing sites — enabling the company to identify operational hotspots firsthand and share best practice solutions directly with its supplier base. To further support supplier capability, Dunelm hosted an in-depth renewable energy webinar in partnership with climate consultancy South Pole, covering renewable electricity market trends, green tariffs, on-site options, and PPAs. The company also launched a quarterly supplier newsletter and engaged specialist partner Verisio to strengthen Tier 2 visibility through Worldly’s Facility Data Manager (FDM).
In FY25, Dunelm achieved 84 percent Tier 1 supplier completion of the Higg FEM self-assessment — reaching its target a month ahead of schedule, despite its supplier base growing 6.4 percent year-on-year.
Improved data quality is now enabling a transition away from spend-based Scope 3 estimates toward primary facility-level data, giving commercial teams greater visibility to make more responsible sourcing decisions. Scope 3 emissions increased just 1 percent against 4 percent sales growth in FY25 — an early signal of progress on decarbonization relative to business growth.
Looking ahead, Dunelm is actively encouraging suppliers to develop decarbonization roadmaps supported by Higg FEM data and ongoing training through its dedicated supplier platform.
Beyond measurement, Dunelm is applying sustainability principles to product design — recognizing that reducing environmental impact requires thinking about the full product lifecycle, not just manufacturing emissions.
One example is the Full Circle Sofa, introduced in 2024. Developed collaboratively with suppliers, its modular design allows customers to replace individual sections rather than the entire sofa. A staple and glue-free frame makes components significantly easier to separate and recycle at end of life — directly addressing one of the most persistent barriers to furniture recyclability.
Dunelm’s rug takeback program accepts rugs from any brand for cleaning, repair, and refurbishment before donating them through charitable partners. Community repair workshops further encourage consumers to extend product life rather than replace items prematurely.
Together, these initiatives reflect Dunelm’s Good & Circular approach to sustainability — a commitment to rethinking how products are designed, sourced, used, and recovered.
Dunelm’s experience shows how a shared, industry-aligned measurement framework can accelerate supplier engagement, improve data quality, and support more responsible sourcing decisions — at scale and ahead of target.
By choosing Higg FEM over a proprietary system, Dunelm reduced adoption barriers, leveraged existing supplier familiarity with the tool, and created a common language for continuous improvement across its value chain. As Dunelm continues to build on this foundation — extending measurement into its own operations, deepening Tier 2 engagement, and embedding circularity into product design — the Better Manufacturing program provides a credible, data-driven platform for meeting its SBTi-validated targets: a 50 percent absolute GHG reduction by FY30 and net zero by FY40.
When Komar set its first Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) validated near-term target in 2023, the company used a 2019 baseline. But target-setting was only the beginning.
As Komar’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Dr. Thiwanka De Fonseka, explained in a recent “Source of Good” podcast episode, as the company expanded its sustainability strategy, leadership recognized that stronger climate commitments would require stronger data. Improving the quality, accuracy, and coverage of emissions data across the value chain became a strategic priority – particularly for Scope 3 emissions, which represent the vast majority of the apparel sector’s climate impact.
To build that foundation, Komar turned to industry-aligned tools, including the Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM), which is stewarded and governed by Cascale and implemented globally through the Worldly sustainability and supply chain intelligence platform.
The result: a stronger emissions data foundation, greater visibility into supply chain impacts, and newly validated SBTi near-term, long-term, and net-zero targets from a 2024 baseline year.
For many apparel brands, Scope 3 emissions remain one of the most difficult areas to measure accurately. Estimates often rely on secondary data and generalized emissions factors that provide only a partial picture of value-chain impacts. Komar sought a different approach.
Under the company’s “Planet” strategic pillar, which is one of the two main pillars of its holistic sustainability strategy, “Sus-Tex 2030”, the Higg FEM became a key tool for collecting facility-level environmental data across its supply chain. This includes information related to energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, water use, wastewater management, waste generation, and chemical management.
Beginning in 2024, Komar expanded supplier participation in the Higg FEM and integrated the resulting facility-level insights into its broader climate strategy. At the same time, the company adopted Worldly’s Product Impact Calculator to improve the measurement of Scope 3 Category 1 emissions, which account for more than 70 percent of Komar’s total greenhouse gas footprint.
Together, the Higg FEM and Worldly’s Product Impact Calculator (PIC) enabled Komar to move beyond estimated emissions calculations and incorporate increasingly robust primary data from suppliers, materials, and manufacturing operations.
“One of our first tasks was to create a proper strategy and then identify credible tools to collect the data needed to monitor progress,” De Fonseka said. “If you have a strategy without credible data, there’s nothing you can do.”
To support its climate and environmental goals, Komar launched a comprehensive supplier engagement program centered on the Higg FEM. The company began by mandating participation in the Higg FEM for its strategic suppliers in 2023, then expanded the requirement across its T1 and T2 suppliers in 2024 as a “mandatory” requirement.
As reported in the Komar 2025 Sustainability Progress Report, published in 2025 (based on 2024 calendar year data):
Importantly, Komar did not approach completion of the Higg FEM as a compliance exercise. Recognizing that many facilities lack dedicated sustainability teams, the company developed customized training programs, practical toolkits, and supplier support resources designed to help facilities use their own data to identify hotspots, establish baselines, develop action plans, and drive continuous improvement. “We consider the Higg FEM to be an improvement tool rather than a data collection tool or audit tool,” said De Fonseka.
As supplier engagement increased, environmental performance improved. Average Higg FEM scores rose from the 40-point range to the 60-point range, reflecting stronger environmental management systems and greater understanding of sustainability performance across the supply chain.
As Komar’s data quality improved, the company undertook a comprehensive review of its climate targets. Informed by Higg FEM and Worldly PIC data, Komar established a new set of science-based targets, with 2024 as the baseline year.
The updated targets reflect improvements in data quality, emissions accounting methodologies, and value-chain coverage, creating a stronger and more accurate foundation for long-term climate action.
Komar’s newly approved SBTi commitments include:
For Komar, the approval of these targets represents more than a climate milestone. It demonstrates how credible, primary supply chain data can strengthen corporate climate strategies and support more ambitious decarbonization pathways.
Komar views target validation as a starting point, not the finish line. “Setting emissions reduction targets is often one of the easiest steps in an organization’s decarbonization journey,” says De Fonseka. “The greater challenge lies in implementing the meaningful actions, investments, and transformational initiatives required to achieve those targets.”
The company is currently finalizing its Climate Transition Plan and 2025 Sustainability Annual Report, which will outline the actions being taken to achieve its approved science-based targets.
As a privately held company, Komar is not required to publicly disclose this information. However, consistent with its commitment to transparency and continuous improvement, the company has chosen to share its progress publicly. Komar is demonstrating how better data can enable more credible climate commitments and help turn net-zero ambition into measurable action.
Scaling textile-to-textile recycling requires overcoming persistent barriers related to fiber quality, feedstock consistency, and commercial adoption. As expectations around sustainability performance continue to rise, companies are also under increasing pressure to deliver circular solutions backed by credible, measurable impact.
A Cascale Corporate member since 2020, Recover recognized that advancing circularity would require material innovation supported by trusted data, consistent measurement, and collaboration across the value chain. By combining fiber innovation with industry-aligned tools such as the Higg Index, Recover is working to scale recycled cotton while strengthening its ability to measure and benchmark performance over time.
“Scaling circularity requires more than innovation in materials alone,” said Orsolya Janossy, senior sustainability manager, Recover. “It depends on combining technical solutions with credible measurement, strong partnerships, and the systems that enable progress at scale. Using frameworks like the Higg Index alongside collaboration across the value chain helps us turn circularity from ambition into action.”
To achieve this goal, Recover developed a mechanical recycling process that transforms post-industrial and post-consumer textile waste into recycled cotton fiber for use in new products, most notably apparel, accessories, and home textiles. Its approach combines three reinforcing strategies.
Recover’s recycling process is designed to help preserve fiber quality and performance, supporting the integration of recycled cotton into commercial applications. Through its work with brands and value chain partners, Recover is helping demonstrate how circular materials can move from innovation to market-ready products at scale.
Recover views supporting policy, including Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), as critical to building the infrastructure needed to scale circularity. Stronger collection systems, more reliable feedstock supply, and investment in recycling capacity can help create the conditions needed for recycled materials to become more widely available and commercially viable.
Recover uses the Higg Index as part of its approach to measuring and improving social and environmental sustainability performance across its facilities. Through the Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM) and Higg Facility Social & Labor Module (Higg FSLM), Recover applies a structured assessment framework to identify gaps, prioritize actions, and track progress year over year.
Using the Higg Facility Tools also gives Recover a consistent way to measure sustainability performance across its operations and value chain. This common methodology supports more reliable data, clearer internal and external reporting, and more meaningful benchmarking against industry peers.
For Recover, verified Higg Index assessments also support stronger customer relationships. By using a framework recognized by major global brands, Recover can help reduce duplicative audits, lower the overall audit burden, and build trust with partners through greater transparency and shared sustainability goals.
Recover also uses the Higg Materials Sustainability Index (Higg MSI), helping integrate recycled materials into product-level impact assessment.
By integrating the Higg Index into its operations, Recover has strengthened its ability to measure, benchmark, and improve performance over time. From 2024 to 2025, Recover reported improvements across both Higg FSLM and Higg FEM assessments across its three production hubs* reflecting:
* Aggregate averages were calculated across the three hubs; only Bangladesh data is externally verified, while the remaining facilities conducted self-assessments.
Recover seeks to demonstrate the viability of textile-to-textile recycled cotton as a solution that can help reduce waste and support lower-impact material inputs. Consistent measurement helps Recover benchmark performance, plan for continuous improvement, and strengthen credibility with customers and partners.
Its collaboration with Primark, also a Cascale Corporate member, was highlighted in Cascale’s “Source of Good” podcast and shows how brand partnerships can help move circular materials into commercial products and support shared solutions at scale.
Recover’s use of the Higg Index also demonstrates how a common measurement foundation can support more consistent insights, reduce duplication, and enable more confident decision-making. As circularity moves from ambition to implementation, this combination of innovation, benchmarking, and collaboration can help accelerate progress across the apparel and textile value chain.
Cascale’s Member Analytics Portal (MAP) makes data-driven reporting accessible, visible, and engaging.
Information wants to be free.
But too often it ends up locked away behind opaque reporting systems, busy experts, and data stores that won’t cooperate with each other. When that means I can’t get my bike computer to read my heart rate from my watch, that’s annoying, but I’ll live with it. When it means that our industry doesn’t have the reporting it needs to make data informed decisions about addressing supply chain driven climate impacts that’s a problem Cascale needs to solve.
Cascale’s Member Analytics Portal (MAP) is a member-only dashboard that provides aggregated, anonymized insights from Higg Index data. It frees Higg Index data and makes it easy to act on internally. With a user-friendly interface that enables fast exploration and even custom report building, all Cascale Corporate members can feel confident to internally analyze, measure, and act upon their Higg Index data.
Why now? Anyone attending my data sessions in years past at the Annual Meeting will recall that the MAP was soft-launched to select members in November 2023, and shared more broadly among members in April 2024. Over those years we’ve received a lot of member feedback, much of it positive, some of it negative, but all of it kind and useful and we’ve been able to take member experiences with the MAP to create a reporting platform that shines across a broad set of member use cases:
Pinpoint hotspots. Compare sustainability performance data. Access gaps in Scope 3 reporting. Compare facility data. Export it all into one easy downloadable Excel report. The MAP unlocks data strides for our industry.
The MAP provides value for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting by tracking progress across sustainability initiatives, and delivers valuable Higg Index data insights to industry stakeholders.
The use cases are immediate. With MAP, Corporate members can:
During testing, one Cascale member cited MAP’s ease of access and pointed toward the ability to at some point enable better conversations between vendors. Another member noted how MAP was not only “fun” but “immensely helpful.”
It’s available now to explore for Cascale Corporate members, but before diving into the data, there are a few helpful points for members to keep in mind.
This data is meant for Cascale Corporate member companies to utilize internally and act upon however their sustainability journey merits! It is not meant to be shared or communicated externally. Once again, MAP cannot be used to make external comparative claims or industry-wide performance assessments.
Remember, Cascale does not – and will not – endorse any member external data claims or verify the accuracy of such analyses. Information may be free but it still requires a responsibility for proper usage.
With the MAP, we believe our members will gain the confidence to proceed confidently in their own data-driven discoveries.
Onward!
Cascale shared MCAP and Higg FEM learnings at The Komar Supplier Sustainability Forum.
The Komar Supplier Sustainability Forum recently convened 70 participants from across the consumer goods industry in China. Cascale’s speakers included Nicole Lee-Kauer, manager, Manufacturer Climate Action Program (MCAP); and Peony Tam, manager, Global Membership Development APAC.
Key Takeaways
With a global reach of 250 Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers, Komar has made public decarbonization commitments, including to reduce Scope 3 emissions by 27.5 percent by 2030. In a dedicated decarbonization session, Cascale’s Lee-Kauer shared the importance of MCAP to help Komar’s Chinese suppliers get started in their decarbonization journey.
Lee-Kauer and Tam were joined by Tiffany Leung, customer success associate – Hong Kong at Worldly, and together they encouraged suppliers to transform data from the Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM), delivered through Worldly’s global technology platform, into business value, while empowering them to take greater ownership for their sustainability performance. The session highlighted useful resources like the Higg Index Learning Center, an open resource that shares practical guidance and operational examples for utilizing the tool. Rather than a tick-box exercise or response to brand-driven demand, suppliers were encouraged to understand that accurate data can support their own operational improvement and long-term business value.
The session also highlighted ongoing confusion. In a quick poll, the majority of attendees were unclear about the shared relationship between Worldly and Cascale. The speakers clarified their complementary roles within the ecosystem: The Higg Index frameworks, modules, and methodologies are stewarded and governed by Cascale and implemented globally through the Worldly sustainability and supply chain intelligence platform.
In the presentation, Lee-Kauer and Tam emphasized that Cascale offers both a like-minded and committed sustainability community and mutual support network for manufacturers. They highlighted the scale and relevance of Cascale as a community, showcasing a breadth of brand and manufacturer members.
Cascale convenes stakeholders to define Foundational Environmental Performance (FEP) in order to improve compliance, reduce risk, and strengthen data consistency across consumer goods supply chains.
Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Oakland (CA) – May 19, 2026: Cascale announces it has convened stakeholders including World Resources Institute (WRI), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and ZDHC to establish an aligned industry definition of Foundational Environmental Performance (FEP). The milestone marks an important step towards industry alignment for baseline environmental management practices expected of all global manufacturing facilities producing consumer goods. Developed through engagement with 80 stakeholders at more than 30 organizations across the value chain, the initiative aims to improve consistency, strengthen comparability, support legal compliance, and reduce environmental risks across supply chains.
“For years, facilities and brands shared the same frustration: too many frameworks and not enough clarity on what actually matters. Foundational Environmental Performance answers that need by delivering a clear, globally aligned baseline for environmental management that can help facilities focus resources where they matter most. Aligning manufacturers, brands, NGOs, and technical experts required two years of difficult conversations and FEP is the result: The industry now has a clear, shared reference point that supports both compliance and continuous improvement at scale.” — Maravillas Rodriguez Zarco, vice president of tools & data, Cascale
“We are honored to have been trusted by stakeholders across the industry to convene this process and help build alignment on an issue that is fundamental to credible environmental performance. The development of Foundational Environmental Performance reflects the power of collaboration. This milestone demonstrates what is possible when manufacturers, brands, NGOs, and technical experts come together around a shared goal of improving environmental outcomes across global supply chains.” — Nikki Wood, director of governance and stakeholder engagement, Cascale
Key Takeaways
An aligned definition of Foundational Environmental Performance (FEP) was developed to address a fundamental gap: the absence of a clear, unified, industry-aligned definition of what baseline environmental performance should look like. While there is broad agreement that facilities must meet essential environmental management practices, the industry had lacked a consistent, shared understanding, creating reputational, regulatory, and credibility risks for brands, manufacturers, and suppliers, particularly as stakeholder scrutiny increases.
Given its scope, member reach, and stewardship of the Higg Index, which is implemented globally through the Worldly sustainability and supply chain intelligence platform, Cascale was uniquely positioned to convene the industry on a solution. The organization led a multi-phase consultative process that prioritized inclusivity and ensured balanced input from all key stakeholders including Cascale members (through the Higg FEM Strategic Council) and — critically — manufacturers and suppliers, as well as brands, retailers, and nonprofit organizations to shape an industry-aligned definition for FEP.
These consultations resulted in five guiding principles defining the baseline for FEP across all critical areas. Building on this, Cascale convened additional industry stakeholders — including WWF and ZDHC — to establish the FEP question set.
“Clear, consistent definitions are fundamental to driving credible environmental action. By aligning stakeholders around a shared framework for Foundational Environmental Performance, the industry can improve comparability, strengthen decision-making, and unlock more effective strategies to manage environmental risks across value chains.” — Eliot Metzger, director of sustainable business and innovation, World Resources Institute (WRI)
“Defining Foundational Environmental Performance helps ensure that all facilities are meeting a minimum standard to prevent environmental harm. This kind of alignment is essential to safeguarding ecosystems, reducing cumulative impacts across supply chains, and enabling more ambitious progress over time.” — Payal Luthra, global textiles lead, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
“Industry alignment on foundational expectations is critical to advancing sustainable chemical management and reducing environmental risk. We welcome the alignment with ZDHC’s frameworks and appreciate that all Foundational Environmental Performance (FEP) questions reflected in the Higg FEM are in scope for Level 1 of ZDHC Supplier to Zero V2 as foundational requirements. This reinforces consistency and clarity for suppliers working toward improved performance.” — Frank Michael, chief executive officer, ZDHC Foundation
Governance and Next Steps
The FEP question set addresses critical environmental performance areas that are central to sustainability progress in the consumer goods industry. As such, ensuring it is subject to the appropriate governance mechanisms is both a priority and a responsibility for Cascale. The FEP question set will therefore be directly governed by Cascale’s Technical Advisory Council (TAC). This structured approach balances stability and predictability with the need to remain aligned with regulatory changes, industry standards, and stakeholder expectations.
Media Contact: Forster Communications, cascaleforster@forster.co.uk
