What is Made Aware

Made Aware is an environmental improvement scheme that requires our participating members to take progressive action to reduce the environmental impact of the  production, usage and disposal of their products.

Each year these suppliers must implement a new worthwhile improvement that can be measured.

The products that LOFA members supply have long and complicated supply chains involving many different materials, processes and cross border working practices.  Our members are researching their environmental and social impact, or their ‘product story’, in order to implement progressive improvements.

The scheme is being applied for the first time to products sold to the public in 2012. The products whose product stories have benefited from an environmental improvement will be carrying this label.

The right to display the Made Aware label is awarded by a panel of INDEPENDENT supply chain sustainability experts.

These experts use their experience and judgement to decide if an improvement will generate a worthwhile benefit. This is based on a range of industry standard environmental and social criteria. Suppliers must provide evidence that the improvement has been implemented, and indicate the size of the impact that this will have. Details of the improvements behind each awarded label can be found in the Case Studies section of this website.

Each year 10% of the product stories that have been awarded the right to display the Made Aware label are independently checked by a third party, to ensure that the claimed improvement truly has been implemented and the benefits are being achieved.

Made Aware has been specifically developed to enable small businesses to help improve the environment. Many environmental schemes are too costly and bureaucratic for small businesses to cope with. Made Aware avoids these barriers, so that even the smallest businesses can take part and make a contribution. This means that the scheme is helping to broaden the overall environmental improvement effort.