3E Green Product Analyzer™ (GPA)

Evaluation Tool

3E Green Product Analyzer™ (GPA)

Tool Category

Third-party Evaluation Tools

At a Glance

3E's GPA™ tool was developed to support sustainability by assessing products through an evaluation of ingredient information using recognized chemical and regulatory databases. The tool assesses environmental, health and safety (EH&S) compliance for chemical products. It provides the necessary data and information that can help retailers compare products, measure improvement and ultimately lead to better product sourcing and management.

Tool Website(s)

3ecompany.com/solutions/csr-and-sustainability/3e-green-product-analyzer-trade-gpa/ and s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.3ecompany.com/files/3E_GPA_final.pdf

Tool Owner/Sponsor

3E Company

Type of Entity

For profit

Focus of Evaluation

Substances, products

Product Stage of Life Evaluated

Raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, consumer use, end of life

Impact(s) Evaluated

Air emissions, ecological health, human health, ozone depletion, water emissions, worker health and safety

Tool Description

The 3E GPA™ assessment tool is used by both manufacturers and retailers to define and weigh each area of concern with 3E’s green grading system to yield results that are relevant to them. The 3E GPA™ assessment results in a relative score for each product (a 3E Green Score), which is comprised of three components; the product's impact on people, property and the environment. Products can be analyzed by each of these components to understand impacts. If, for example, the organization chooses to identify all products that contain known carcinogens as onecriteria of concern, the 3E GPA™ will scan the product inventory and identify all of the CAS level substances which are included on identified authoritative lists for carcinogenicity. If the product composition contains one or more components on relevant lists, the resulting grade will reflect that classification. The resulting score helps establish a baseline and methodology for measuring and comparing performance in achieving sustainability goals and comparing alternatives.  Users can also access 3E's chemical profiles and substance databases to analyze and compare products by toxicity, environmental impact, use type, or cost. The 3E GPA™ allows users to utilize thousands of points of comparison to assess products that may contain potentially impactful substances including air/water pollutants, extremely hazardous substances, or ozone-depleting chemicals.

Product Categories

All Sectors

Tool Requirements

Retailers determine and define the data requirements based on their policy and strategy. 3E has an Online Supplier Portal that enables retailers' suppliers to load MSDS's, hazard communication and chemical data into a centralized, secure, web-based system. Trade secrets are protected.  As data is loaded into the system, 3E analyzes, indexes, validates, and augments information as appropriate, 3E has a database of 4.5 million MSDS's including over one million UPC codes that can be used to supplement a supplier's own data.

Cost of Tool

Cost is an annual subscription rate based on the number of products evaluated.

Evaluation Frequency

Ongoing

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths: Information is generated based on a consistent methodology and recognized endpoints that enables users to assess their raw goods and materials, compare products, and measure improvements.

Weaknesses: Each retailer determines its own weighting methodology so that products may not be comparable across retailers.

Examples of Retailers That Use It

Confidential

Similar Tools that Serve the Same Industry or Product Category

GreenWERCS™, SciVera Lens™, IHS Chemical Inventory Greening Solutions, Green Screen

For More Information

Jenny Bingham: jbingham@3ecompany.com; Jeffrey Starr: jstarr@3ecompany.com; Company Telephone: (800) 360-3220; Company Email: info@3ECompany.com