This page outlines TfS’s collaboration with the Chem-X consortium for the development of key Sustainability and Circularity guidelines contributing to the Digital Material Passport (DMP) for chemical products.
Sustainability, Circularity, Chemistry DMP
Content guidelines as foundation for a chemistry Digital Material Passport (DMP)
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What is Sustainability and Circularity in Chemicals?
Sustainability and circularity are essential for the future of the chemical industry.
By minimising environmental impact, using resources responsibly, and keeping materials in circulation through recycling and reuse, companies are shifting from linear to circular models, reducing the impact to the environment, and increasing supply chain resilience.
Driven by evolving European legislation and market expectations, this transition strengthens climate action, resource security, and long-term competitiveness across the sector.
Chem-X and Digital Material Passport for chemical products
Chem-X is the key to a transparent and circular chemical industry. With Chem-X, we want to address the need for a seamless exchange of product information in the value chain across industries. Thereby, we want to enable compliance with different regulatory requirements, support circular business models and increase competitiveness.
Within the chemical industry, we want to help companies creating a Digital Material Passport (DMP). DMP captures information on chemicals which constitute a final product that is regulatory required to have a Digital Product Passport (DPP).
To lay the foundations for a chemistry DMP, we have been working on six guidelines in which we summarise our common understanding of methodological frameworks, metrics, terminology, and review existing implementations. The guidelines address key topics: business and material identity, circularity and sustainability, material declaration, and verification. The guidelines will be used alongside the information models as prerequisite to develop DMP models.
TfS collaboration with the Chem-X consortium
TfS is an associate partner in the Chem-X consortium, which is developing the DMP for chemical products.
Through its role in the Chem-X consortium, TfS contributes to the development of the “content layer” of the DMP — establishing which sustainability and circularity data should be included and how it is calculated. To achieve this, TfS collaborates with the Chem-X consortium for the development of the Sustainability and Circularity guidelines contributing to the DMP for chemical products.
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The content guidelines for the chemistry DMP
To lay the foundations for a chemistry DMP, we have been working on six guidelines defining product and material-level data, including sustainability and circularity, as well as company-level data:
- Business Identity
- Material ID and Data Chain
- Verification
- Material Product Declaration
- Environmental Sustainability Guideline
- Circularity Guideline
TfS contributed with the writing and publication of the Environmental Sustainability and Circularity Guidelines, which you can find below in their current version 2.0.
The other 4 guidelines can be found at https://www.chem-x.de/publication/.
Please note that the guidelines are working documents. We will continue to develop the guidelines and add further content (e.g. additional metrics). For more information see the section below “Guidelines Writing and consultation process”.
Sustainability Guideline
Provides a methodological framework for assessing the environmental impacts of chemical products. The guideline covers the following metrics:
- Product carbon footprint (TfS PCF Guideline 3.0)
- Resource use fossil
- Acidification potential
- Water use (water scarcity)
- Ozone depletion potential
- Photochemical ozone creation potential
- Eutrophication (terrestrial, freshwater, marine)
- Particulate matter
- Ionising radiation
Circularity Guideline
Defines harmonised metrics for measuring circularity in chemical products. The guideline covers:
- Bio/ Renewable/ Recycled/ Reuse content metrics definitions and formulas
- Chain of custody definitions and indicators
- C02-based content (CCU)
- Waste disposal metrics
TfS Scope 3 GHG Methodology
The Sustainability and Circularity Guidelines build on the TfS Scope 3 GHG methodology (Product Carbon Footprint Guideline), extending the scope beyond carbon emissions to include additional environmental and circularity metrics.
This integrated framework enables companies to assess and report broader sustainability and circularity performance for chemical products.
Guideline Writing and Consultation Process
TfS is committed to transparency and stakeholder engagement.
Currently, the published guidelines are at their version 2.0.
Version v2.0 is an expansion of v1.0 with the inclusion of Module 2, encompassing respectively:
for the Environmental Sustainability Guideline
• Eutrophication (terrestrial, freshwater, marine),
• Particulate matter,
• Ionizing radiation;
for the Circularity Guideline
• CO2-based content (CCU),
• Waste disposal metrics.
Further improvements have been the result of the public consultation processes conducted in April/May.
The Chem-X consortium and TfS are currently working on Module 3 to include additional metrics and details. Once ready, we will invite public feedback
to ensure the inclusion of a wide range of perspectives and maximize value for all stakeholders.
You can follow the developments of the Chem-X initiative at https://www.chem-x.de/.
The full set of Guidelines is also published at https://www.chem-x.de/publication/
