Selecting sustainable suppliers: criteria, data and what CSRD requires

What "sustainable supplier" now concretely means

"Sustainable supplier" was long a vague concept — an ISO 14001 certificate here, a sustainability declaration there. With CSRD it gets a concrete, measurable definition for the first time.

For your ESRS E1 reporting, you need specific, quantified data from your suppliers: scope 1 and 2 emissions in tonnes CO₂e, energy consumption in MWh, water consumption in m³. No general claims, but numbers with calculation documentation.

This changes both how you select suppliers and how you assess them. A supplier who cannot demonstrate their emissions is a weak link in your CSRD reporting — regardless of how sustainable they claim to be.

Five criteria for sustainable supplier selection

Based on the VS Standard and ESRS E1, these are the five most relevant criteria:

1. Emission intensity. Scope 1 + 2 emissions divided by revenue or FTE. This lets you compare suppliers within the same sector regardless of company size.

2. Energy source. Does the supplier use renewable electricity with GoO certificates? A supplier with 100% renewable energy has a market-based scope 2 of zero — which makes a significant difference in your own scope 3 calculation.

3. Waste recycling rate. An indicator of circularity and production process efficiency.

4. Data quality. Are the figures based on invoices (primary) or sector averages (secondary)? Primary data carries more weight in your ESRS E1 disclosure.

5. Trend line. Are emissions declining year on year? A supplier with a declining trend is more valuable than one with low but stable emissions.

How do you compare suppliers objectively?

The challenge: no two suppliers deliver data in the same format. One sends a PDF, another an Excel file, a third a link to their sustainability report. Comparing them is therefore practically impossible.

The solution: a standardised platform that has your suppliers fill in the same data points, with the same emission factors, in the same format. Then you can calculate emission intensity per supplier and compare them directly.

verified.supply offers this as an enterprise dashboard. You invite your suppliers; they complete their VS Standard profile; you receive aggregated data per supplier that is directly comparable. This turns sustainable supplier selection into a data-driven process rather than an intuitive judgement.

Are you a buyer looking to professionalise your sustainability supplier assessment? Sign up as an enterprise buyer at verified.supply.