In this episode of the ESG Report, Cally Edgren and Devin O’Herron of Assent join Tom Fox to discuss product compliance and sustainability. They explore how the two worlds are starting to intersect. 

Making sure products meet regulatory requirements is what product compliance is all about. In recent years, the requirements have been changing. There used to be a focus on safety features like mechanical and electrical safety, but things changed with the RoHS Directive in 2002. That directive was meant to make sure electronic waste from third-world countries was safe. “The RoHS directive and the EU Ecodesign Directive require compliance, or you cannot sell in locations where they are effective,” Cally remarks. It was one of the first times a regulatory rule had more to do with sustainability than traditional product safety. 

Manufacturers need to understand that their customers are no longer just concerned with what they hold in their hands at the end of the process – they want to make sure that their suppliers are using responsible processes. The two worlds of operations compliance and product compliance are starting to connect. “What I am seeing and what I have experienced is we are starting to merge the environmental into the more traditional product safety,” Cally says. 

As we become increasingly aware of the importance and relevance of the social and environmental costs associated with manufacturing processes and the barrier they present towards sustainability, ESG metrics represent another way of managing and measuring these externalities. 

Resources

Cally Edgren on LinkedIn

Devin O’Herron on LinkedIn

Tom Fox’s email

Assent website