There is no single ESG requirement. What customers ask for depends on the sector you supply: a chemical maker, a textile mill, and a logistics operator are pulled toward different schemes, regulations, and audits. Under the sector labels the pattern is consistent, and the evidence base is shared.
| Sector | The scheme or regulation that defines the ask | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Chemicals | TfS (on EcoVadis methodology), REACH, process safety | Chemical suppliers · TfS |
| Textile and apparel | Higg FEM and FSLM (Cascale, on Worldly), ZDHC MRSL, labor | Textile and apparel · Higg |
| Electronics | RBA Code, SAQ and VAP, conflict minerals (CMRT) | Electronics · RBA |
| Construction and building materials | Safety, EPDs and embodied carbon, prequalification networks | Construction |
| Logistics and transport | Fleet fuel and emissions, GLEC and ISO 14083 intensity | Logistics |
| Manufacturing | EcoVadis across four themes | Manufacturing |
| Automotive | OEM portals, Drive Sustainability, Catena-X PCF | Automotive |
| Food | GFSI, BRCGS, SMETA, retailer portals, EUDR | Food |
| Retail and consumer goods | Retailer programs, Intertek Inlight, UL, Higg | Retail |
The pattern in every sector
Demands arrive in three overlapping streams:
- An industry sustainability scheme — a shared assessment the sector has standardized on: TfS for chemicals, Higg for textiles, RBA for electronics, EcoVadis across many.
- Regulation — the law applying to your products and operations: REACH for chemicals, conflict-minerals rules for electronics, and the broader EU regulation reaching down supply chains.
- Direct customer questionnaires and audits — each buyer's own request, on top.
All three draw on the same facts about energy, emissions, waste, labor, safety, and governance. The sector determines the wrapper. The evidence base is shared, which is why one response system beats answering each request from scratch — the logic behind handling multiple questionnaires.
By industry
Chemicals. Three streams at once: Together for Sustainability (the shared assessment, on EcoVadis methodology), REACH and related substance regulation, and customer questionnaires with a heavy process-safety component. See ESG requirements for chemical suppliers and the TfS guide.
Textile and apparel. Most often the Higg FEM (Facility Environmental Module, run by Cascale on the Worldly platform), plus chemical management and labor expectations from brands. See ESG questionnaires for textile and apparel suppliers.
Electronics. The Responsible Business Alliance Code of Conduct with its SAQ and VAP audit, plus conflict-minerals due diligence (tin, tantalum, tungsten, gold). See ESG for electronics suppliers.
Construction and building materials. Product-level environmental data — Environmental Product Declarations — alongside standard questionnaires, driven by green-building schemes and procurement. See construction and building-materials suppliers.
Logistics and transport. Carbon above all: freight and transport-chain emissions, increasingly against standard methodologies. See logistics and transport suppliers and, for the numbers, Scope 1, 2 and 3 explained.
Manufacturing. Most commonly an EcoVadis assessment across Environment, Labor and Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement. See EcoVadis for manufacturing suppliers; the free EcoVadis readiness check shows where you stand.
Automotive, food, retail. Requests routed through shared industry portals rather than one-off questionnaires: automotive ESG portals, food-industry sustainability portals, retail supplier ESG platforms.
Common to every industry
- Environment — energy, emissions, water, waste
- Labor and human rights — working conditions, no forced or child labor, fair wages
- Health and safety — management systems, incident data; heaviest for chemicals and manufacturing
- Ethics and governance — anti-corruption, a supplier code of conduct, whistleblowing
- Sustainable procurement — how you assess your own upstream suppliers
- Certificates — ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 9001, sector marks
Assembled once, these serve every scheme, regulation, and customer questionnaire, whatever the sector.
Start with the data
The fastest way ahead of any sector's requirements is core numbers in order before a customer asks. The free carbon calculator and VSME readiness check cover the environmental basics; a response system keeps every later request a matter of reuse.
The bottom line
ESG requirements look different across chemicals, textiles, electronics, construction, logistics, and manufacturing — different schemes, regulations, portals. They ask for one shared set of facts about your operations. Find your sector above, prepare the evidence base once, and let it answer whatever the sector sends next.