Question

How can SMEs improve their Certifications score affordably?

Third-party sustainability audits offer the most accessible route to a Certifications-score improvement without the full cost of ISO certification. A SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit) covers Labour & Human Rights topics, can be conducted at one site, and is widely accepted by EcoVadis; being BSCI audited covers similar ground. Both are typically less expensive than ISO certification and achievable more quickly.

For the Environment theme, EcoVadis also recognises standalone sustainability audits covering more than 30% of operations, conducted by a qualified external auditor, as a partial substitute for ISO 14001 — the key conditions being that the audit is standalone and produces a complete written report.