The European Outdoor Group (EOG) and the Bundesverband der Deutschen Sportartikel-Industrie (BSI) have announced details of an update to an initiative that aims to standardise and harmonise product sustainability data across the outdoor sector.
The Sustainability Data Exchange Questionnaire version 2.0 (SDEX 2.0) will be launched during a free webinar on Wednesday 24 July, and will be available for use by brands and outdoor retailers afterwards.
SDEX was introduced by the EOG and BSI in early 2023. The project addresses an existing problem relating to the exchange of sustainability data at product level between brand and retail. The widespread existing practice of using extensive spreadsheets and questionnaires for each product and for each trading partner, is very time-consuming for all parties involved, and involves many duplicated tasks. In response, project partners developed a harmonised SDEX questionnaire to facilitate data exchange. This was launched in July 2023 and has since seen a widespread uptake from the industry.
The use of SDEX by brands and retailers is rising, and several of the latter are now considering the option of making completion of specific sections of the questionnaire mandatory for brand suppliers. Meanwhile, global policy is moving towards a position whereby the supply and display of the data involved is already, or will soon be, required.
Working with the brands and retailers that are involved in the SDEX project, the EOG and BSI have undertaken another phase of development since January. The SDEX 2.0 questionnaire will incorporate the following changes:
- New attributes added to dropdown lists
- Chemicals lists updated
- Formatting of cells made easier, allowing more flexibility for submitting answers
- Filters added
- LCA data can now be included
- Footwear components amended.
Dr Katy Stevens , head of CSR and sustainability at the EOG, and Maïté Angleys, advisor corporate responsibility at the BSI, will lead the webinar about SDEX 2.0, which is free to attend. The event will be held from 15:00-16:00 BST on Wednesday 24 July. Anyone who is interested in attending can register for the event at Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams.
Dr Katy Stevens, EOG head of CSR and sustainability, comments: “SDEX is already successful, and that’s thanks to the excellent level of engagement by the brands and retailers who are already involved. They all recognise the importance of this project, and why it is playing a crucial role in the outdoor industry’s work on sustainability. Working closely with our colleagues at the BSI, we have now made some significant improvements to the questionnaire that is at the heart of it. We are delighted to be launching SDEX 2.0 and invite anyone from the sector to join the webinar on 24 July and find out more.”
For more information about SDEX 2.0, email [email protected] or [email protected].
To find out more about the work of the EOG, visit www.europeanoutdoorgroup.com.
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