Cradle to Cradle
Cradle to Cradle Certified is the leading science-based multi-category standard used globally by designers, brands, and manufacturers to design and manufacture products that enable a healthy, equitable, and sustainable future. For more than a decade, Cradle to Cradle Certified has assisted businesses in innovating and optimising materials and products using the most advanced science-based measures available.
The C2C Certified Product Standard
The standard provides a framework for designers, manufacturers, and suppliers to continually improve what products are made of and how they are made.
The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute (C2CPII) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to increasing the positive impact of products and materials.
They are the governing and certifying bodies for the Cradle to Cradle Certified® Product Standard and the certification mark.
Because of its robust, evidence-based, multi-attribute framework, the standard has been recognised globally as a gold standard for safe, circular economy-ready products and materials, resulting in its comprehensive third-party verified assessment and independently audited certification as the most ambitious, actionable standard for designing and manufacturing products that are safe, circular, and responsibly made.
The Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Standard provides the framework to assess the safety, circularity, and responsibility of materials and products across five categories of sustainability performance:
- Material Health
- Product Circularity
- Clean Air and Climate Protection
- Water and soil Stewardship
- Social fairness
A C2C Certified product is assessed by independent assessors (e.g., chemists and toxicologists) and then audited by C2CPII against the five performance categories.
Who are 540 World?
540 WORLD is a B2B UK regenerative, circular design consultancy with the goal of creating a circular world of goods.
They offer gold-standard, environmentally friendly solutions to businesses and material innovators looking to future-proof their material, product, project, eco-brand, business, infrastructure, government, or sustainable educational institute.
We share practical pathways for transitioning from linear economy design to regenerative, Cradle to Cradle circular design. We bridge knowledge gaps through workshops, CPDs, and presentations; we brainstorm and innovate through our global network; we source materials and conduct “sustainable” swaps; we network the supply chain; and we collaborate on marketing.
540 World represents a genuine shift toward safer product ingredients and a healthy circular design model that benefits both people and the environment.
540 World’s goal is to turn the linear economy (take-make-waste) design models 180 degrees and steer industry toward the critical 360-degree safe and then circular economy models. These 180° plus 360° (540) closed-loop, safe, and circular designs aim to form the heartbeat and global vision of 540 World.
We support the onboarding of world-class safe and circular materials under what is known to be the most advanced science-based standard for independent, sustainable, safe, and circular product certifications in the world, namely, Cradle to Cradle Certified. 540 WORLD believes that the C2C methodology provides consumers with a five-fold, holistic certification that is unparalleled, as well as manufacturers and specifiers with a clear pathway to navigate their safe and circular objectives, which is why we are so excited to see the Environment Agency adopt C2C-certified materials in their contracts beginning in 2021.
This extensive rigour ensures that Cradle to Cradle Certified products are truly planet-positive in design, ingredients, manufacturing, and circularity; it’s no surprise that there is now global demand for certifying products and using certified products in projects that require verified data.
540 World will refer you to local or international assessor bodies that are qualified to complete the assessments, and we introduce you to the C2CPII for Cradle to Cradle Certified questions. They aim to educate and onboard UK suppliers in regenerative, sustainable, and innovative design science for their products and projects, using Cradle to Cradle Certified materials and products.
See below for a sampling of the incredible certified materials with which we are collaborating on projects and related services.
Among the 540 world services are:
- Materials Sourcing
- Supply Chain Projects
- Communications Project
- Ideation, Research, and design
- Product Development
- Commercial
Why Cradle To Cradle Is Better For The Built Environment
We know that the linear economy is harming the environment and human health. Production and consumption have gone unchecked under the linear model: resource use has tripled since 1970, putting increasing pressure on resource availability and producing more and more waste.
Furthermore, manufacturing and food production account for approximately 45% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Assuming this trend continues, our resource demand could double in the next 20 years, necessitating the equivalent of 1.5 Earths. Our GHG emissions would continue to rise, and air, water, and soil pollution would worsen, resulting in more deaths than the 9 million that already occur each year.
We’ve reached a tipping point, and it’s time to take decisive action. Recent economic, climate, and societal events have highlighted the interconnections between humans, the environment, and our economy.
Businesses are being looked at to help drive the transition to a new economic model that rebalances this complex relationship.
It has been demonstrated that circular economy strategies reduce risk and harm. Circular approaches can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 40% by rethinking our resource use. Beyond that, a circular economy can regenerate new forms of value creation in business and society.
Visit this page to learn more about how the circular economy can create value beyond circular material flows.
If you’re looking for a sustainable and beautiful way to add some green to your space, Eco Foundry is the perfect choice. Contact us today to learn more about our living green walls, leasable and permanent options available.
Author: Oluwasemilore Olaitan, Anish Rajani