Together for Sustainability

What it is

"Together for Sustainability (TfS) is an industry-leading initiative driven by chemical procurement specialists." The owner describes its work as measurement: "TfS supports and coordinates the measurement of sustainability performance of chemical companies and their suppliers."

The first instrument is the assessment. "A TfS Assessment is a questionnaire-based evaluation of a company's sustainability performance." Its result is a scorecard: "A scorecard including overall Assessment score, score by category and any strengths or improvement opportunities is created." The owner states that the overall rating from an assessment sits on a 0 – 100 scale.

Evidence matters for that score, and existing third-party credentials count as inputs to it: "Documentary evidence is required, and third-party certifications are considered."

The second instrument is the on-site audit. "As with TfS Assessments, TfS Audits result in a supplier and site-specific Corrective Action Plan (CAP) to address areas with scope for improvement."

Both instruments are built so that one exercise serves many members. The audit page states the principle — "An audit for one is an audit for all." — and explains the mechanism: "The Data Sharing Agreement (DSA) allows your audit report to be shared with all current and future members of TfS, helping reduce duplicate requests and streamline sustainability reporting."

Results are visible inside the membership, not to the public. Scorecards are shared with the permission of the rated suppliers, and TfS members have full access to the scorecard through a secure online platform. For audits: "The Audited company and TfS members can see the Audit result and progress towards a CAP through a dedicated and secure online tool, the TfS OASIS Audit Sharing Platform."

What the owner publishes openly is its member list and its list of audit companies; scorecards and audit reports sit behind member platforms.

Who owns it

"Together for Sustainability is an international, non-profit association." The legal and privacy page names the entity as Together for Sustainability AISBL, at Rue Belliard 40, bte 20, 1040 Brussels, Belgium, with Dr Gabriele Unger as General Manager. The who-we-are page dates the initiative to 2011.

"The TfS General Assembly is our highest decision-making body. It comprises one Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) representative from each TfS member company."

"The TfS Steering Committee is our executive body. It is composed of seven people from different member companies, and includes the TfS President."

On 3 September 2026 the governance page's member section showed 64 member companies, consistent with the who-we-are page's own wording that the initiative has over 60 members. The published list includes AkzoNobel, Arkema, BASF, Bayer, Brenntag, Clariant, Covestro, Dow, Evonik, Henkel, LyondellBasell and Syensqo.

Who assesses it

The owner's assessment page states that TfS Assessments are conducted by TfS partner and service provider EcoVadis, described there as a global leader for CSR Assessments.

"TfS Audits are conducted by experienced expert companies operating globally." On 3 September 2026 the audit page named eight of them: Bureau Veritas, Eurofins, TÜV Rheinland, BSI, DQS Group, QIMA, Intertek and SGS.

The two TfS instruments

• TfS Assessment — A TfS Assessment is a questionnaire-based evaluation of a company's sustainability performance.
• TfS Audit — TfS Audits are conducted by experienced expert companies operating globally.

Validity

The owner sets the assessment clock itself: "A TfS Assessment is valid for three years, but TfS members may ask suppliers for more regular assessment if required." For audits the cycle is stated separately: "An audited supplier usually has 36 months in which to address all audit findings before a re-audit, though major findings are expected to be resolved within 12 months or immediately in case of critical findings."