The Sustainability Consortium Celebrates 10 Years of Helping Companies Create More Sustainable Consumer Products

TSC, cofounded by University of Arkansas and ASU, helps ensure that consumer products are made with sustainable guidelines for a growing population.

Scottsdale, AZ, May 15, 2019 – Today marks The Sustainability Consortium’s (TSC) ten-year anniversary. In 2019, TSC celebrates ten years of developing tools and resources that:

• Cover sustainability reporting and improvements in sustainability for retail sales of partners that include Amazon, Walmart, Walgreens, Kroger, Sprouts and Marks & Spencer
• Impact the sustainability of over 90% of consumer goods product categories, covering more than 100 product categories across 8 sectors
• Developed one of the largest databases of research on sustainability issues in consumer product development in the world
• Assist over 2,800 users of TSC tools and products to address product sustainability in their supply chains
• Resulted in an increase of 30% of supplier scores on TSC questionnaires over the last 3 years

TSC was founded in 2019 as a joint collaboration between the University of Arkansas and Arizona State University. TSC translates the best sustainability science into business tools that are used all over the world to create more sustainable consumer products. With over 100 members and partners of the consortium, TSC pulls diverse companies and organizations from the sustainability industry together to drive environmental and social sustainability impact at scale.

“TSC is about coming together and finding agreement based in science about what the world needs. It informs the work we should be doing, while measuring our progress along the way.”

Matt Kopac, Sustainability Business & Innovation Manager, Burt’s Bees, says, “TSC is about coming together and finding agreement based in science about what the world needs. It informs the work we should be doing, while measuring our progress along the way.”

In 2018, TSC published their latest impact report, Transparent Supply Chains for Better Business, showing proof that, since 2016, supply chain transparency is increasing as more and more companies commit to measuring their sustainability progress.

Euan Murray, TSC Chief Executive, states, “We understand now, more than ever, what we need to do to help companies understand sustainability. The next ten years of TSC will focus on solving sustainability. We know improvement is possible. We are seeing a tidal wave of companies committing to measuring their progress in sustainability in their supply chains.”

“TSC has worked closely with Walmart, suppliers and other retailers to help drive simplification and standardization of sustainability metrics for consumer product impacts,” said Laura Phillips, Senior Vice President of Global Sustainability for Walmart, Inc. “These efforts are aimed at driving continuous improvement in value chains and propelling positive change at scale.” said Laura Phillips, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability, Walmart.

Earlier this year, TSC launched their TSC 10 website that focuses on TSC impacts, TSC member stories and the interactive history of the consortium and its founding.

About TSC

The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) is a global organization transforming the consumer goods industry to deliver more sustainable consumer products. We are dedicated to improving the sustainability of consumer products. Our members and partners include manufacturers, retailers, suppliers, service providers, NGOs, civil society organizations, governmental agencies and academics. Each member brings valuable perspectives and expertise. TSC convenes our diverse stakeholders to work collaboratively to build science-based decision tools and solutions that address sustainability issues that are materially important throughout a product’s supply chain and lifecycle. TSC also offers a portfolio of services to help drive effective implementation. The Sustainability Consortium has more than 100 members and there are over 2,000 users of TSC tools worldwide; it convenes more than 200 global organizations annually over an average of 75 networking opportunities. Formed in 2009, TSC is jointly administered by Arizona State University and the University of Arkansas. It also has a European office at Wageningen University and Research, and a Chinese office in Tianjin, China. For more information visit www.sustainabilityconsortium.org.