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Non renewable Materials Used G4 EN1 a Methodology

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In 2018, the GRI G4 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines were superseded by the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards (GRI standards). This is the methodology for G4-EN1-a which has been superseded by GRI 301-1 - the current GRI 301-1 metric can be found here. 

About

​​This metric is based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 Guidelines. It covers one of the reporting requirements of Indicator G4-EN1 – ‘Materials used by weight or volume’.

This Indicator describes the organization’s contribution to the conservation of the global resource base and its efforts to reduce the material intensity and increase the efficiency of the economy. These are expressed goals of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Council and various national sustainability strategies. For internal managers and others interested in the financial state of the organization, material consumption relates directly to overall costs of operation. Tracking this consumption internally, either by product or product category, facilitates the monitoring of material efficiency and cost of material flows.

Methodology

​​To calculate the total weight of non-renewable materials used - G4-EN1-a2:

Identify the organization’s primary products and services.

Identify total materials used. This includes, as a minimum:

  • Raw materials (that is, natural resources used for conversion to products or services such as ores, minerals, wood)
  • Associated process materials (that is, materials that are needed for the manufacturing process but are not part of the final product, such as lubricants for manufacturing machinery)
  • Semi-manufactured goods or parts, including all forms of materials and components other than raw materials that are part of the final product
  • Materials for packaging purposes, which include paper, cardboard and plastics

For each material type identify whether it was derived from non-renewable or renewable sources. Non­-renewable materials are resources that do not renew in short time periods, such as minerals, metals, oil, gas, or coal.

Add the weight of all non-renewable materials together to get to the total. 

Reporting on this Indicator should include the following contextual information as a comment to the metric value:

  • For each material type, identify whether it was purchased from external suppliers or sourced internally (such as by captive production and extraction activities).
  • State whether this data is estimated or sourced from direct measurements. If estimation is required, state the methods used. Usage data is not to be further manipulated and is to be presented ‘as is’ rather than by ‘dry substance/weight’.

For WikiRate Researchers:

  • Please see this page for guidelines on how to research values for GRI-based metrics.