Selecting and Adding Materials, Trims, and Packaging
To construct a product’s Bill of Materials, users can include any Example Material, Acquired Material, Custom Material, Trim/Component, or Packaging that has been created in the Higg Materials Sustainability Index (Higg MSI).
For products about which an external brand-to-brand (B2B) or brand-to-consumer (B2C) claim is intended to be made, at least 90% of the materials used in the product (by weight) should use specifically modelled materials that are representative of what is known, following the guidelines from the Higg MSI Content Guidance.
Examples (Selecting Materials)
A woven cotton shirt with 7 buttons is going to be assessed using the Higg Product Module and an external claim regarding the product carbon footprint is intended to be made. It is not sufficient to model this product using the Example Material “Cotton Fabric,” since the material is known to be woven and the default is a knit. In this case, a custom woven cotton fabric needs to be created and used. If the buttons represent less than 10% of the product weight, then a default selection from the Trims& Components Library can be used.
A nylon windshell is going to be assessed using the Higg Product Module and an external claim regarding the product footprint is intended to be made. The product page references that a “lightweight 30D (denier) fabric” is used. It is not sufficient to model the main windshell fabric as a woven nylon fabric without also updating the yarn size from 200DTEX to 45DTEX, since it is clearly known and these impacts should be included in the customized material.
A t-shirt containing 96% cotton / 4% spandex is going to be assessed using the Higg Product Module. The product impacts are only intended to be used as part of internal Scope 3 greenhouse gas accounting. In this case, using the Example Material “Cotton Fabric” is acceptable, as no external claims will be made. If this was to change in the future, a custom blended material would need to be created in the Higg MSI. It is always best to try and use the most representative material that matches composition and processing. However, when first estimating a Scope 3 baseline, using more generic options can help scale across an entire portfolio of materials and products. Over time, users should aim to be more accurate with their environmental impacts by providing more specific customization.