GreenWERCS™

Evaluation Tool

GreenWERCS™

Tool Category

Third-party Evaluation Tools

At a Glance

GreenWERCS™ is a chemical screening tool that evaluates the human health and environmental hazards of chemical ingredients in products. It was originally developed for a retailer to increase the understanding of toxic chemicals in products with the ultimate goal of reducing or eliminating them. It can also be used by chemical manufacturers, formulators, and product manufacturers at the product development stage to evaluate the potential impact of chemical ingredients while protecting proprietary information.

Retailers develop their own weighting and scoring methodology based on their sustainability goals. 

Tool Website(s)

www.greenwercs.com; www.thewercs.com

Tool Owner/Sponsor

The WERCS Ltd. and Wercs Professional Services LLC

Type of Entity

For profit

Focus of Evaluation

Chemical ingredients in products

Product Stage of Life Evaluated

Raw materials, manufacturing, consumer use, end of life

Impact(s) Evaluated

Ecological health, human health, material impacts

Tool Description

The GreenWERCS™ system requires suppliers to enter product ingredient data into a proprietary database. Potential impacts on human health and the environment can then be examined using regulatory lists of hazardous substances. An aggregated score based on a company's weighting and scoring methodology is developed.

A retailer can compare products within a category and make decisions about which to purchase based on its sustainability goals.

The tool can also provide "what if" scenarios that allow users to see the impact of changing chemical formulations. Chemical product manufacturers can use this feature to better understand the potential human health and environmental impact of their product formulations at the development stage.

Product Categories

All Sectors

Tool Requirements

Suppliers provide key product ingredient data (chemical composition and formulation) for chemical products. GreenWERCS™ protects a manufacturer's proprietary data as the ingredient data is not shared directly with the retailer. 

Cost of Tool

Fees for suppliers to purchase GreenWERCS™ is based on their purchase: a software as a service model with a monthly fee and tiered pricing; a transactional fee structure with companies paying $20 to enter each product for scoring; and a perpetual seat license where the purchaser has the software installed at their workplace.

Evaluation Frequency

Ongoing. National and international regulatory lists of hazardous substances are updated quarterly.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths: Retailers can use product scores generated by GreenWERCS™ to compare competing products and encourage suppliers to substitute safer ingredients for harmful ones.

Weaknesses: Chemicals that do not appear on any lists receive a lower score, which can indicate a preferable ingredient. This may be misleading, as chemicals not on lists may not have been adequately tested for human health and environmental hazards. As retailers determine their own weighting methodology, products may not be comparable across retailers.

Examples of Retailers That Use It

Walmart / Sam's Club, West Marine, Halliburton, and Allergan Pharmaceutical

Similar Tools that Serve the Same Industry or Product Category

SciVera Lens™, 3E Green Product Analyzer ™, IHS Chemical Inventory Greening Solutions; Chemical Compliance Systems (CCS) Tools

For More Information

Tom Carter: (518) 640 9249, tomc@thewercs.com