What Does the Cradle to Cradle Certification Mean?
When searching for products that are safe and sustainable, there are many things to consider. Where and how was the product made? What materials were used? How will the product affect you? How are workers treated and what does the brand do to lessen its impact on the environment?
Several certifications exist focusing on safeguarding people (whether as workers or consumers) and the planet by setting standards that take the health, social, and environmental impacts of product sourcing, manufacturing, and consumption into account.
These certifications are usually provided after a company and its products are assessed and inspected by a third party according to a set of criteria. This post is exploring what it means to be Cradle to Cradle® (C2C) certified.
Learn more from Cradle to Cradle®
What Does This Certification Stand For?
The third-party certification program, Cradle to Cradle® is inspired by the design model of the same name. Grounded in a holistic and circular approach to the design and manufacture of products and systems, this model mimics the regenerative cycle of nature, in which waste is reused.
Who is Behind Cradle to Cradle?
The phrase “cradle-to-cradle” is credited to Walter R. Stahel, a Swiss architect who championed a closed-loop approach to production in his 1976 research report to the European Commission, The Potential for Substituting Manpower for Energy.
Co-authored with Genevieve Reday, the report emphasized the positive impact such an approach could have on job creation, economic competitiveness, resource savings, and waste prevention. These factors have become key considerations in sustainable development and are also reflected in the assessment criteria of C2C certification.
The Cradle to Cradle Certified® Products Program is managed by the non-profit organization Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. Founded in 2012 by an American architect, William McDonough, and a German chemist, Michael Braungart, it all started with their book, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things.
Published in 2002, the book focuses on using the cradle-to-cradle model to champion a circular economy. McDonough and Braungart eventually established the certification system using the name of the model, and their book, and unveiled it through the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute.
Headquartered in San Francisco and Amsterdam, Cradle to Cradle® champions the circular economy by certifying products and systems that are designed to avoid, or at least minimize, the use of virgin resources and prevent end products from heading to a landfill.
Instead, sustainable materials are sourced and used and, at the end of a product’s life, fed back into the cycle – either to make another product or used in a way that bypasses the landfill. This mode of design and manufacture negates the damaging model of cradle-to-grave also known as take-make-waste.
The Eco Principles of Cradle to Cradle
The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute develops and administers certification using independent assessors. Sought out by designers, brands, and manufacturers around the world, C2C measures the social and environmental sustainability of a product against five categories. These categories are inspired by cradle-to-cradle’s three principles:
Biomimicry
This refers to the model taking inspiration from natural systems, in which there is no waste. Everything can be reused and become a resource for something else.
As a simple example, think of a sunflower that grows from the soil providing food for humans and animals. At the end of the season, the plant biodegrades to become organic matter that feeds the soil.
Meanwhile, seeds that have not been utilized for food return to the soil to spring up again as a flower which starts the cycle all over again.
Using clean and renewable energy
Not only does this kind of energy use abundant natural resources like sun and wind, but it can also be low cost and create fewer harmful emissions.
Diversity
Diversity builds resilience and creates opportunities, thus making systems more flexible.
The C2C’s five assessment categories are as follows:
Material Health
This category assesses whether the chemicals and materials used are safe for people and the planet. C2C has a Restricted Substances List that is continually updated.
Given consumers’ increasing concern with the chemicals present in many products, companies can also apply for a C2C Certified Material Health Certificate™.
This certificate assesses and verifies the safety of products according to C2C’s Material Health assessment methodology. The certificate can be obtained in two ways: either as a standalone or as an addition to full certification.
As a standalone certificate, it only assesses material health and does not stand in for full product certification. As an addition, it can provide more information about the chemicals used in a product.
Product Circularity
The next category ensures that products are designed in a way that keeps materials circulating. This is achieved during sourcing and design.
The former refers to the use of recycled, recyclable, or renewable materials being responsibly sourced and used for the manufacture of goods, while the latter ensures that products are designed and made in a way that allows them to be returned to the cycle – either technically or biologically.
In the technical cycle, materials can be reused through recycling, repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing, or reuse. The biological cycle refers to products whose materials can be kept circulating through processes such as composting, biodegradation, or nutrient extraction.
Clean Air and Climate Protection
This category fosters the improvement of air quality, the use of renewable energy, and the management of greenhouse gas emissions.
Water Stewardship
The efficient use of water is important not only to conserving water but also to preventing water pollution. Hand in hand with water protection, is safeguarding soil ecosystems.
Social Fairness
The fifth category protects workers and ensures they are treated fairly and work under safe and healthy conditions.
The various categories are overseen by technical advisory groups. These are committees that address topics related to the development of the Cradle to Cradle Certified® Product Standard, which is reviewed every three years.
The current standard is version 4.0, which was launched in April 2021. Furthermore, the certification system has ascending levels of recognition, based on a product’s performance in each of the five categories. These levels are Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.
Cradle to Cradle® certifies products across a range of industries and products. The list includes building materials, interior finishes, furniture, household products, consumer electronics, textiles, cosmetics and personal care products, cleaning products, paper, packaging, and polymers.
Product certification is valid for two years and the company needs to show that it complies with updated standards in order to requalify. What’s more, a company may need to show improvements beyond merely adhering to updated standards.
For example: a product may be certified at the Bronze level for no more than four years; thereafter, the company must recertify at the Silver level. To find certified products you can either look for the label or browse the Institute’s website for certified products.
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Cradle to Cradle® has some high standards and can be helpful when finding more sustainable products.
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Claudia Hauter is a South African writer, copy editor, and content creator with degrees in Drama and Anthropology. She works in television managing web content. When she isn’t reading or writing, she’s walking her dog, finding small businesses and markets to support, or attracting butterflies and bees with her vegetable garden. Learn from Claudia on Twitter or Instagram.