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Advanced Facility Engagement Guidelines | Gap Inc.

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As part of Gap Inc.’s ongoing commitment to sustainability, it is a requirement for their supply chain partners to complete the 2022 Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM).

The Higg FEM is an industry-leading sustainability assessment tool that standardizes how facilities measure and evaluate their environmental sustainability performance.

This year, Gap Inc. requires each facility to purchase the Higg Environmental Subscription* to access the Higg FEM self-assessment.

  • Facility Environmental Subscription – this subscription includes access to the standard Higg FEM 2022 self-assessment.
    • Add verification to your subscription. (optional, but highly encouraged)

 *If you are being asked to use the Plus by another brand that is okay and will meet Gap Inc.’s needs.

Gap Inc. is working with Higg, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s (SAC) technology partner, to help facilities complete their assessment(s). Higg will be sending email communications throughout the reporting period to each facility. These Higg communications will provide resources and guidance on next steps to ensure facilities are getting the support they need to meet Gap Inc.’s completion requirements on time.

Who is Higg?

Higg is the sustainability insights platform, helping consumer goods businesses take responsibility for their entire impact – from materials to products, from factories to stores, across energy, waste, water, and working conditions.

By making both data collection and performance analysis easier, we help brands and manufacturers make better environmental, social and governance decisions – across all parts of their business.

Spun out of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition in 2019, Higg is the exclusive licensee of the Higg Index, a suite of tools for the standardized measurement of supply chain sustainability.

What is the Higg Index?

The Higg Index is a suite of tools developed by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), for the standardized measurement of supply chain sustainability, used by the footwear, apparel, textile, and other industries. Together, these tools are used to assess the environmental and social performance of both value chains and products. Each tool focuses on measuring a different parameter.

STEP 1: (IMPORTANT) Make sure to add info@higg.com to your company email’s safe email sender list, otherwise you risk not receiving the ongoing communications due to email firewalls. If you do not receive an email from Higg by January 31, please check your spam folder.

STEP 2: LOGIN OR CREATE A HIGG ACCOUNT
Facilities that already have active Higg accounts can log into Higg.org. First-time Higg users should start here to learn how to create an account on Higg.org. If you want to create a new Higg account or change the existing  Higg account, please notify Gap Inc. at ecb@gap.com for proper Higg account association.

STEP 3: PURCHASE HIGG FACILITY SUBSCRIPTION

Once logged in, purchase your Higg Facility Subscription from the Higg subscriptions page to access the Higg facility assessment.

STEP 4: SHARE HIGG FACILITY MODULE(S) WITH Gap Inc.
Accept the module share request sent by Gap Inc.

If you do not see a pending share request from Gap Inc. in your modules page, under Share Requests, you should click the Share Module button to initiate the module share with Gap Inc.

Sharing Details
Account Name: Gap Inc.
Higg ID: 49528

STEP 5: COMPLETE AND POST HIGG SELF-ASSESSMENT WITH Gap Inc.
Complete 100% of the applicable questions and post the module. Facilities that have completed the Higg FEM in previous years can use the roll forward feature to easily copy data to the new Higg FEM.

STEP 6: (RECOMMENDED) VERIFY HIGG SELF-ASSESSMENT
Denim Laundries that have been enrolled in  Gap Inc.’s Water Quality List (WQP) are requested to verify the Facility Environmental Module (vFEM). For other facilities, verification of the self-assessment is not required by Gap Inc., but we would highly encouraged the facility to do so. The verification shall ensure that facilities have accurately completed the entire  Higg Facility module. It allows  the facility to share with the public/ stakeholders the accurate and compelling data.

Higg.org

  • November 3, 2022 – Higg FEM 2022 self-assessment is accessible; Higg verification available to purchase
  • January 1, 2023 – Higg FEM verification is accessible
  • April 30, 2023 – Higg FEM 2022 self-assessment can no longer be unposted (once posted)
  • October 31, 2023 – Higg FEM 2022 and verification is no longer available for purchase
  • December 31, 2023 – Higg FEM 2022 reporting cycle ends; Last day to post both self and verified Higg FEM 2022

Gap Inc.’s Deadlines to complete Higg FEM (2022-2023)

  • April 25, 2023 – all Higg FEM 2022 self-assessments must be posted and shared with Gap Inc.
  • June 30, 2023 – all verified Higg FEM 2022 must be posted and shared with Gap Inc.

The Higg Index Facilities Environmental Module (FEM) is the yardstick  to measure the environmental sustainability performance of any particular facility across 7 sections:  i.e., EMS, air emissions, energy/GHG emissions, water, wastewater, chemicals, and waste.

The facility that has been supporting the production of  Gap Inc. within the regular cadence (previous 12 months) is required to go through the FEM self-assessment on an annual basis, and if possible, we would highly encourage the facility to request for the verification of  the score by completing the 3rd parties verified assessment.

A parent supplier Higg FEM score is the average of the active factories under its umbrella. Gap Inc. rated the facilities based on Higg FEM score at the facility level, and the respective scores shall be  refreshed on a monthly basis.   Gap Inc. encourages our facilities to verify the Higg FEM module, which is a key component to make up the Higg rating in Gap Inc.’s internal vendor scorecard.  For further details about the rating methodology , please refer to the link.  Should you have any questions, please email to ecb@gap.com.

Higg’s training website, HowtoHigg.org, contains all of the information and guidance facilities need to help them at every stage of the module completion process.