Purpose of the UP Scorecard
The UP Scorecard helps to make informed choices about foodware and food packaging by considering their impacts on human and environmental health.
How food and packaging purchasers can use the UP Scorecard
We know that choosing the most sustainable option for your foodware or packing needs is complicated, but the UP Scorecard makes it easy. With a few clicks you can compare health and environmental scores for the most commonly used food container options and make the best choice for you, your customers, and the planet:
- Evaluate the human and environmental health performance of your container options.
- Show clients and customers why your choice matters.
- Enable suppliers to show how their product stacks up against the competition.
Customize to match your container. Or don't.
Food packaging purchasers and the sustainability professionals that work with them struggle to thoroughly review and compare the multiple products relevant to their work. This task is made more complicated by the large number of materials and material combinations in food packaging and the various environmental and health impacts of those products.
This is where the UP Scorecard comes in. Through utilizing the scorecard, purchasers and sustainability professionals can rely on the extensive research and background data behind the scorecard to more easily compare the various materials and material combinations for each product category (cup, bottle, container, etc.) and each impact area (chemicals of concern, climate, sustainable sourcing, etc.) to help them make better decisions for the environment, human health, and their business.
Material type, product design, sustainability certifications, recycled content, and local recycling and composting options, among many other variables, all influence health and environmental impacts. The UP Scorecard lets you customize to get the right score for your container. But it also allows you to quickly compare generic options with just a few clicks.
The UP Scorecard can be used at multiple points in the decision-making and purchasing process. It can be utilized to compare products/suppliers centrally at the RFP/product assessment stage by using, for example, the “customize” option where manufacturers can fill out the relevant details about their products. When a purchaser has access to multiple products and waste disposal methods at the operational level, the UP Scorecard can be customized for what is locally recyclable/compostable so that the purchaser can pick the product that is more sustainable for their particular location/operation.
Core values
The UP Scorecard was built based on the following set of six core values for the tool to:
- Simplify and enable decision making
- Be science-based
- Incorporate multiple criteria
- Be developed using a multi-stakeholder approach
- Be and remain dynamic
- Be transparent
