Charcoal Transparency Survey - Frequently asked Questions

Why do I have to fill out the survey if I am part of the charcoal transparency initiative (CTI)?

We ask all industry participants either CTI member or not to fill out EF online charcoal survey. The survey will enable EF to provide the European customer with the most accurate picture about charcoal products commercially available on Europe’s consumer markets.

If you have already provided us with information about your charcoal products, we encourage you to provide the information again. If for example some product information has changed, we will update this information accordingly.

Where do I upload my Products to be placed on www.charcoal-transparency.org?

During the survey we ask you to provide us with your product information. The self-declared information you provide will be used to calculate the Charcoal Bag score. If you agree to EF Terms and Conditions, the Charcoal Bag score will be published together with your product information under www.charcoal-transparency.org.

We kindly ask you to provide your product information during the survey.  

1. Click on “Add a new product” to add a product to your company’s charcoal product/brand portfolio

2. If you have entered all the products/brand connected to your company’s name Click on “Save and go to next question”.

Which products am I allowed to upload?

We advise you to only register/upload those products where your company holds a trademark license or is the trademark holder. The company that uploads products via the EF charcoal survey must be legally entitled to distribute content and information about the product to external parties like Earthworm Foundation. EF cannot be held accountable for any wrong, missing or false information.

Do I have to list all my products in the product section of the survey?

We encourage you to list all the charcoal products sold, traded or produced in your company’s name during the survey. The information will be treated with utmost care and confidentiality. See EF terms and conditions at the end of the survey.

As a side note, the more products you provide to us, the more will be displayed on charcoal-transparency.org

Do I have to provide all supply chain information?

We encourage you to provide all your supply chain information via the excel file “EF_Charcoal_Supply_Chain_Questionnaire”. The higher the level of transparency is the more accurate will be the score displayed together with your product on www.charcoal-tansparency.org.

What is the excel file for, how to fill it out and how to upload it?

The excel file ““EF_Charcoal_Supply_Chain_Questionnaire” gives you the opportunity to provide the EF tCharcoal team with self –declared supply chain information for the different products sold, traded and produced in your company’s name. The filling out of the excel file can be understood as a due-diligence exercise.

1. Please download the excel file

2. Please fill out the excel file - you can also Save your survey by clicking on “ Save and Finish later”

3. Save the excel file on your computer

4. Upload the excel file again by clicking on browse

Please fill out the file to provide all relevant supply chain information for the different products sold, traded and produced in your company’s name. The excel files contains a detailed guideline document where the different requirements for the individual question are described in detail.

What is the EF charcoal Scoring methodology?

The EF charcoal scoring methodology is EF’s internal methodology for assessing where you company stands on its sustainability journey as well as to assess the level of transparency of your products. The Charcoal Bag score is based on an assessment of self-declared information and will give Europe’s charcoal industry and Europe’s consumers a tool to compare the level of responsibility between commercially available charcoal products.

The charcoal bag score is composed to two individual scoring units:

1) Company’s engagement score

2) Product and Supply Chain score

The final score together with the provided (upload) product information and product pictures will be online available under www.charcoal-transparency.org 

Will the EF field score of my products be left visible on www.charcoal-transparency.org?

Yes, the EF field score will be left visible on the CTI. The EF field score is the global performance score published together with your product story www.charcoal-transparency.org

 

Figure 1 The EF Field Score

 

An EF field score is always connected to an a EF field diagnostic, which can lead to an EF field score and a product story on our website. If a company has already undergone an EF field diagnostic and is a member of the Charcoal Transparency Initiative, the field score outweighs the Charcoal bag score and a clear differentiation between assessed (EF field score) and self-declared (Charcoal bag score) will be shown. The Charcoal bag score will be published as an additional source of information.

The EF field score provides more in depth knowledge and transparency about the origin and the supply chain of the individual product. Furthermore, it is your company’s commitment to our shared values. We work together for a transparent and responsible European charcoal market.

How does the Charcoal bag score differ from the EF field score currently visible on www.charcoal-transparency.org ?

If you are a CTI member and already have a product evaluation connected to one or more of your products on the CTI, this score is connected to an EF field diagnostic. The EF field diagnostic follows our Charcoal Control System (CCS) methodology where we assess EF’s four criteria for responsible charcoal, on the ground, where wood is transformed into charcoal. The four criteria as well as an average performance score are displayed on the CTI connected to your product. We call this the EF Field score.

The charcoal bag score is a general score based on self-declared information which reflects your company’s engagement, product and supply chain transparency. It is a standardized score in the sense that the evaluation process is applicable without any EF field diagnostic. 

How will my engagement with Earthworm Foundation e.g. my CTI membership, influence the final Charcoal Bag score(s)?

Your engagement with Earthworm Foundation or as member of the CTI will positively influence your brand engagement score. As we believe in the power of an honest and open dialogue between our partners and us, we will honor your engagement.

When will my products and my evaluation be published on www.charcoal-transparency.org ?

We will publish the product information as well as the assessment linked to the product information you provided within six weeks after you have submitted your individual survey.

What happens if I do not fully answer to the questionnaire?

We encourage you to complete the survey. If you cannot fill the survey completely but give your consent to publish your results on www.charcoal-transparency.org we have to decide on a case-by-case basis if the present information is sufficient to be published. We encourage you to use the “Save and finish later” button to resume the survey at a later point.

How will an incomplete survey affect my individual product score?

If you provide incomplete information e.g. only product information but no supply chain transparency information (via the excel file). We will only assess the product information you provided. The supply chain information will be evaluated with 0% and will impact the overall score. The same applies vice versa. Therefore, it is to your own benefit to completely fill out the survey, upload your product information and complete the “EF_Charcoal_Supply_Chain_Questionnaire” excel file.

For more information, see EF’s product scoring methodology.  

Can I save the survey and resume it later?

Yes, you can click on the “Save and finish later” button in the upper right of the navigation bar to save the survey and resume it later. You will be asked to provide your email address. We will then send you a link to access the survey again.

How do I contact the Earthworm Foundation? 

Please contact us via the following email address: contact@charcoal-transparency.org