What is Chain of Custody Carbon Report, And Why Is It Important For Brands?
Chain of Custody (CoC) refers to the process of documenting and tracking the movement of materials and parts through the supply chain, from their origin to the final product. This involves recording each step—sourcing, processing, manufacturing, and distribution—to ensure transparency, accountability, and traceability.
For brands, CoC is critical because it verifies the authenticity, quality, and ethical sourcing of materials, which directly impacts consumer trust and regulatory compliance. In today’s market, consumers and regulators demand transparency regarding environmental and social impacts.
Chain of Custody is built into Carbon Report via our share and request features. By tracking materials and parts, brands can quantify the carbon emissions associated with each stage of production. This data is vital for creating accurate carbon reports, which help brands meet regulatory requirements, set reduction targets, and communicate their environmental commitment to stakeholders.
Chain of Custody Carbon Report for Materials
Chain of Custody (CoC) plays a pivotal role in carbon reporting by providing a framework to track the journey of materials across the supply chain, enabling accurate Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) with primary data. A key aspect of this process is capturing the distance a material travels, as transportation significantly contributes to a material’s carbon footprint.
In a CoC system, every movement of a material—from raw material extraction to processing, manufacturing, and final distribution—is documented with details such as origin, destination, mode of transport (e.g., ship, truck, or air), and distance traveled. Primary data, collected directly from suppliers, logistics providers, and manufacturers, ensures precision in calculating emissions.
For example, if a material like aluminum is mined in Australia, refined in China, and assembled into a product in Europe, CoC records each leg of the journey, including distances (e.g., 12,000 km by sea, 1,500 km by rail). This data is automatically connected via your Carbon Report, which quantifies emissions based on transport modes and distances.
Focusing on the distance traveled enhances the accuracy of Carbon Report. Unlike tools using secondary data, which relies on industry averages and can obscure variations, Carbon Report’s primary data from CoC provides granular insights.
For instance, a textile brand tracking cotton from a farm in India to a factory in Bangladesh can use logistics records to measure exact distances, revealing whether road or rail transport was used and identifying opportunities to optimize routes or switch to lower-carbon transport modes. Incorporating distance data into Carbon Report also supports compliance with standards like ISO 14040/14044, which emphasize primary data for credible environmental claims.
By leveraging CoC to track material journeys, brands can produce transparent Carbon Reports, identify high-emission supply chain segments, and implement strategies to reduce their environmental impact, such as localizing sourcing or consolidating shipments.
Chain of Custody in Carbon Report for Parts and Sub-Assemblies
Chain of Custody for parts and sub-assemblies through Carbon Report extends beyond raw materials to encompass the complex processes of conversion, assembly, and distribution, providing critical data for accurate carbon reporting. Parts and sub-assemblies, such as electronic components, automotive modules, or machinery units, often involve multiple stages of transformation and integration, each contributing to the overall carbon footprint.
The journey of parts and sub-assemblies is meticulously tracked, with a focus on where these components are converted and assembled. Conversion refers to the transformation of raw or semi-finished materials into functional parts, such as turning sheet metal into a car door panel or silicon wafers into microchips. Assembly involves combining these parts into sub-assemblies or final products, often at specialized facilities. Carbon Report records the locations of these activities, the energy sources used (e.g., renewable vs. fossil fuel-based), and the transportation between conversion and assembly sites.
For example, a smartphone’s battery might be manufactured in South Korea, shipped 2,000 km to a Chinese assembly plant, and then distributed globally, with each step documented for distance, transport mode, and energy consumption.
Primary data from these stages is essential for Carbon Report to have data that is more accurate than an LCA without the need for thousands of dollars and a PhD. By tracking where parts are converted and assembled, brands can quantify emissions from energy-intensive processes like machining, molding, or soldering, as well as logistics.
For instance, assembling a sub-assembly in a region with coal-powered grids generates higher emissions than in one with renewable energy. Carbon Report data also captures the carbon impact of distribution, such as shipping sub-assemblies to regional hubs or final markets, enabling brands to pinpoint inefficiencies, like excessive air freight use.
This granular tracking supports compliance with environmental regulations and standards, such as the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which requires detailed emissions data. It also empowers brands to optimize their supply chains by relocating assembly to lower-carbon regions, consolidating conversion and assembly sites to reduce transport, or investing in energy-efficient manufacturing.
Ultimately, a robust chain of custody for Carbon Report for parts and sub-assemblies ensures credible carbon reports, enhances transparency, and drives sustainable decision-making in complex global supply chains.
How Carbon Report Maintains Privacy For Brands And Their Suppliers
Maintaining privacy with Carbon Report is paramount for brands and their suppliers, as supply chain data often includes sensitive information. Carbon Report’s robust Chain of Custody (CoC) system ensures confidentiality while enabling accurate carbon reporting through careful data handling, restricted access, and advanced security measures.
To protect trade secrets, Carbon Report avoids requesting proprietary formulations or sensitive manufacturing details, such as exact chemical compositions or production techniques. Instead, Carbon Report focuses on non-sensitive data critical for carbon reporting, such as material origins, transport distances, energy usage, and assembly locations.
For example, a supplier of lithium-ion batteries would share data on the weight, transport mode, and energy consumed during production, but not the specific electrolyte formula, ensuring emissions are tracked without exposing competitive advantages.
User access is tightly controlled to prevent unauthorized exposure. Carbon Report implements role-based access controls (RBAC), where only authorized personnel, such as sustainability managers or auditors, can view specific data sets.
Suppliers retain control over their data, with granular permissions dictating what is shared with the customers or their suppliers. This ensures transparency for carbon reporting while safeguarding sensitive operational details.
Data sharing with other suppliers or external entities is strictly prohibited without explicit consent. Carbon Report enforces contractual agreements and data-sharing protocols, ensuring that brands and suppliers must opt-in before any data is disclosed.
To secure data, Carbon Report employs state-of-the-art encryption practices. Data is encrypted both in transit and at rest using protocols like AES-256 and TLS, protecting it from interception or breaches.