Tag: 3BL

By Laura Barefoot, Senior Manager, Integrated Marketing, Lenovo

A student design session supported by Lenovo at the Hargraves Community Center in Chapel Hill made its way to the Dean Smith Center, where one lucky student had their design worn by the University of North Carolina’s men’s basketball team.

Rooted in community

The Hargraves Community Center is a longstanding pillar of Chapel Hill’s Northside neighborhood and a place deeply rooted in the town’s historically Black community. Built by and for the community, Hargraves has served generations as a resource for education, recreation, and community involvement. Today, the center continues to support people and families across all ages in the Triangle area through programs that support academic, social, and recreational needs, making it a trusted environment for community engagement and growth.

From imagination to creation

Earlier this year, head coach Hubert Davis along with the Tar Heels players visited the Hargraves Center, joining local students for a collaborative design session in recognition of Black History Month. Powered by Lenovo technology, players worked alongside third- through fifth-grade students to transform their ideas into creative designs that could be shared beyond the classroom.

With guidance from UNC players, these tablets were used to bring ideas to life through a hands-on, interactive experience. The technology allowed students to experiment with colors, fonts, and digital effects, trying out different designs in real time, encouraging creativity and discovery. Throughout the session, the players provided feedback and encouragement, helping refine designs and build confidence. The Lenovo tablets were later donated to the Hargraves Community Center to expand access to technology and support continued learning and creativity.

After the design portion of the team’s visit, students had the opportunity to present their T-shirt designs on a big screen to show off their creativity and artistry. The players then voted and selected one student-created design to be printed on T-shirts that were shown off to UNC fans during pregame warmups before the February 23 game against Louisville. For the students, seeing their peers’ design showcased at the game served as an inspiring example of what can be achieved through collaboration and creativity.

“Hargraves Community Center is an important reflection of the heart of Chapel Hill, a town my family loves,” said UNC Basketball coach Hubert Davis. “Introducing our players to the students and families in the Hargraves community serves all of us. It helps build a bridge to community activism for our players and it encourages the students our players interact with to dream big and believe they can achieve anything.”

Empowering through partnership

Through its collaboration with the Hargraves Community Center and continued partnership with UNC, Lenovo continues to deepen its commitment to the North Carolina community by providing technology that fuels learning and creativity. By providing students with the opportunity to explore design, collaborate with mentors, and bring ideas to life, Lenovo helps create hands-on experiences that extend beyond the classroom. Through this initiative, Lenovo reinforces its broader commitment to providing access to digital tools, supporting learning, and contributing to experiences that benefit communities and students.

At Cisco, circular design means building sustainability into our products and packaging from the start. It’s about designing with the full life cycle in mind: using materials efficiently, incorporating recycled content, reducing packaging waste, improving energy efficiency, and making products easier to repair, upgrade, and recycle.

This matters because choices made in the design stage can influence everything that follows — from how much raw material is used, to how long a product can stay in service, to how efficiently it runs for customers. Circular design also helps make the best use of critical raw materials and supports supply chain resiliency. 

Cisco continues meaningful work in this space over the years while measuring environmental impacts at a product level. 

Below are several examples that illustrate how different product teams are applying circular design in ways that reflect their unique technologies, use cases, and constraints.

UCS-X servers 

For over a decade, Unified Computing System (UCS) servers have been engineered to be more sustainable by design, and were awarded the 2023 SEAL Sustainable Product Award. UCS-X reflects how circularity and high performance can go hand-in-hand — especially in data center environments where energy and material choices can add up quickly.

Built with modular, easily removable components, its upgradeable designs help extend the use of the chassis, power supply, cooling, and other components, and it is optimized for repair, reuse, and eventual recycling. This architecture allows the X-Series to consume roughly 50% less raw material over three generations than traditional rack servers.

The latest X-Series architecture also features technology innovations such as efficient 54V power distribution, intelligent fan controls, zone-based cooling, and 80 PLUS Titanium-rated power supplies.

The team also eliminated wet paint and reduced powder coating by 62% compared to the prior generation — meaning less coating material is applied overall. This reduces the amount of raw materials that need to be produced, transported, and ultimately managed across the life cycle.

They also implemented post-consumer recycled (PCR) resin in 77% of non-commodity plastic parts, reducing the use of virgin plastic by using recycled material instead.

Packaging and accessories were also considered. Cisco offers multipack shipping for smaller units and high-volume orders to reduce packaging, and customers can opt out of product accessories they don’t need, such as power cords. Customers receive the product in packaging made of recycled materials, and, like most other Cisco products, can view documentation via QR code.

View the Product Carbon Footprint reports for various UCS products here. 

Webex Room Bar 

The Webex Room Bar is a video collaboration bar for small meeting rooms. It was redesigned with a simplified architecture to reduce the number of internal components compared to its predecessor, resulting in over 32,000 pounds of material savings annually. It uses at least 55% PCR resin. Foam was eliminated from the packaging, replaced by a fiber-based, double-tray design. When connected to certain displays, the Room Bar can automatically configure the brightness and latency of the display for natural video conferencing upon installation and turn the display on and off automatically, thereby saving energy.

Desk Phone 9800 Series

The Cisco Desk Phone 9800 series focuses on repairability, recycled content, packaging, and energy consumption.

93% of the product’s major components can be disassembled using common tools, which can improve the repair and recycling processes while extending material life cycles. It uses at least 74% PCR plastic resin.

Packaging also minimizes waste, using 100% recycled plastic bags or fiber-based alternatives, and eliminates unnecessary components such as plastic bags for cables, wipe cloths, and paper documents (except where legally required). 

Energy consumption is another focus, with multiple power-saving modes to meet different customer needs. Deep sleep mode can reduce power required to 0.3 watts, potentially reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by over 40% annually during its use phase. 

To help customers better understand and manage this, a sustainability dashboard reports real-time energy consumption and GHG emissions, enabling users to proactively manage and reduce their GHG emissions from use of the product. 

View the Desk Phone 9871 Lifecycle Assessment summary here. 

Nexus 9332D-H2R Switch 

The Cisco Nexus 9332D-H2R is a high-performance, 32-port 400 Gigabit Ethernet deep-buffer switch. In addition to delivering industry-leading performance, the team incorporated features that support both circularity and efficiency. To help manage energy use, the switch features an 80PLUS Platinum-rated power supply unit, and customers can use the Nexus Dashboard to gain insights into power consumption. 

The switch is built with 75% PCR content in non-commodity plastic parts and uses lightweighting techniques to reduce the amount of material used. The top cover was purposely designed to allow customers to easily access and upgrade the memory, which can extend the product’s use.

Emphasizing serviceability, key parts like fans and power supply units are modular, allowing for easy field replacement. 

The packaging consists of corrugated parts with at least 25% PCR content and foam parts with at least 60% PCR content, while accessories use fiber-based bags. The team continues to iterate these sustainability features while protecting the product during shipment.

Looking ahead

Cisco achieved several sustainability goals in our 2025 fiscal year (FY), marking significant progress in our journey. Moving forward, we will focus on maintaining Circular Design Principles in 100% of new products and packaging in FY26.

As we continue pursuing a more circular business model, we’re also expanding the criteria of our Circular Design Principles by listening to our customers, employees, regulators, investors, and other stakeholders. We’re updating these Principles to keep raising our bar for integrating sustainability into our products — readying Cisco for the future. We intend to focus on recycled plastic and materials, removing hazardous materials, improving packaging, and making our evaluation criteria more product-specific, recognizing that Cisco’s product diversity means there’s no one-size-fits-all approach.

We intend to maintain the progress achieved to date, remain accountable, and seek additional opportunities to drive impact.

As always, we will share our progress in our Purpose Reporting Hub and Purpose Report. 

 

1FY19 base year 

View original content here.

What You Should Know:

• Bath & Body Works evaluates opportunities to reduce, reuse, recycle and compost waste, seeks to use fewer and more sustainable materials and advances end-of-life options for products.
• Bath & Body Works diverts unsold products from landfills through innovative product distribution programs such as associate sales and donations to nonprofit organizations, including a partnership with Good360.

At Bath & Body Works, waste reduction and management play a key role in building a sustainable future. Reducing waste conserves raw materials and energy, which helps the company reach its climate targets, and effective waste management helps protect resources for the future and can decrease disposal costs.

The brand evaluates opportunities to reduce, reuse, recycle and compost waste whenever possible, prioritizing source reduction as the preferred method. This includes waste generated by operations in offices, distribution and fulfillment centers and stores, as well as company-owned inventory (e.g., packaging components) at third-party vendors when and where it requires disposal.

The company also looks for opportunities to use fewer materials and less packaging, to use more sustainable materials, including recyclable or recycled materials and to advance sustainable end-of-life options, such as reuse.

DIVERTING UNSOLD PRODUCTS FROM LANDFILL

In the retail sector, products that can no longer be sold to customers are a leading source of waste. Bath & Body Works has innovative recycling programs to help evaluate these materials for reuse and recycling feasibility. Through partnerships with external recycling partners, the brand works to help give a second life to some of its products, including soaps and surfactants, ethanol-containing products, aerosols and fragrance oils — all of which can be used for other products and purposes.

Bath & Body Works associates also have the chance to buy surplus products at heavy discounts. Through an annual sample sale, for example, the brand sold nearly 5,700 boxes filled with over 399,000 units of product in 2024.

Another way the brand keeps unsold products out of landfills is by donating them to nonprofit organizations that serve people in need. Since early 2023, Bath & Body Works has worked with Good360 to find donation outlets across various markets for marked-out-of-stock products (products unable to be sold to customers, e.g., end-of-season products). In 2024, the brand scaled its partnership with Good360 from a pilot program to a chainwide initiative across the U.S. and Canada with its stores and distribution and fulfillment centers donating over 1.4 million units of marked out-of-stock product. This waste and recycling/reuse data is based on fiscal 2024 information from contracted waste and recycling vendors of Bath & Body Works, and the company is continuing to further advance the collection of this data. In the interim, it’s important to note that some waste and recycling services are not included, some estimates are included for stores where the brand does not have visibility into waste bills, and this data has not been audited.

Learn more about how Bath & Body Works reduces waste and its contribution to Good360 in the 2024 Sustainability & Impact Report. For more information about Good360, visit good360.org.

^{Marie Hattar, SVP at Keysight Technologies (Image courtesy of Healtchcare IT Today)}

Originally published by Healtchcare IT Today
The following is a guest article by Marie Hattar, SVP at Keysight Technologies

Wearable devices are transforming healthcare through continuous monitoring, early detection, and personalized management of chronic diseases. These innovations are reinventing how health concerns are tracked and treated, with the goal of improving diagnostics, outcomes, and accessibility. However, they also introduce new technical challenges to overcome.

Factors like increasing health consciousness, aging populations, and advances in sensor technology and connectivity are helping fuel wearables’ popularity. Innovations such as sensor patches that continuously track ECG (electrocardiogram), respiratory rate, and other vital signs, to Oura rings and continuous glucose monitors are also contributing to this transformation. These devices combine sensors to monitor vital signs, utilizing Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or other IoT connectivity for seamless data transmission. With their ubiquitous nature, the healthcare wearables sector is set to grow from $103.4 billion in 2025 to $324.73 billion by 3032. In the US, research found that 45% of adults now own a wearable.

Continue reading here.

^{Marie Hattar, SVP at Keysight Technologies (Image courtesy of Healtchcare IT Today)}

Originally published by Healtchcare IT Today
The following is a guest article by Marie Hattar, SVP at Keysight Technologies

Wearable devices are transforming healthcare through continuous monitoring, early detection, and personalized management of chronic diseases. These innovations are reinventing how health concerns are tracked and treated, with the goal of improving diagnostics, outcomes, and accessibility. However, they also introduce new technical challenges to overcome.

Factors like increasing health consciousness, aging populations, and advances in sensor technology and connectivity are helping fuel wearables’ popularity. Innovations such as sensor patches that continuously track ECG (electrocardiogram), respiratory rate, and other vital signs, to Oura rings and continuous glucose monitors are also contributing to this transformation. These devices combine sensors to monitor vital signs, utilizing Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or other IoT connectivity for seamless data transmission. With their ubiquitous nature, the healthcare wearables sector is set to grow from $103.4 billion in 2025 to $324.73 billion by 3032. In the US, research found that 45% of adults now own a wearable.

Continue reading here.

March 26, 2026 /3BL/ – Product of the Year™ (POY) is the world’s largest consumer-voted award for product innovation, awarded in over 40 countries across the globe each year. The purpose of the award is to guide consumers to the best products in their market and reward manufacturers for quality and innovation. Each year, POY accepts entries for consumer products that demonstrate advancement within their industries. The POY seal is backed by a survey of 40,000 people by Kantar, a global leader in product innovation research.

Congratulations to the Dial® brand for winning a 2026 Product of the Year USA Award, and to the Snuggle®, and göt2b® brands for winning 2026 Product of the Year Canada Awards!

Dial® Antibacterial + Hydrating Liquid Hand Soap – Winner in the Hand Soap Category USA

The Dial^® Antibacterial + Hydrating Liquid Hand Soap provides lasting moisturization until the next wash. Clinically proven to kill 99.9% of bacteria¹, this hand soap delivers 2x more moisturization² per wash. Its gentle, creamy formula soothes dry skin while being free from SLS/SLES, parabens, phthalates, and silicones. This new hand soap from Dial is available in three scents: Shea Butter, Coconut Milk, and Chamomile. Dial^® represents the gold standard of clean that ensures you’re ready for whatever life throws your way, giving you the confidence to move forward.

“Dial Antibacterial + Hydrating Liquid Hand Soap represents a meaningful step forward for the hand soap category. By delivering trusted antibacterial alongside superior hydration³, we’re meeting consumers where they are, without asking them to compromise on care or efficacy,” says Allison Feldman, Vice President of Personal Care & Fabric Softener at Henkel. “The Product of the Year seal is a trusted signal for shoppers, and we look forward to leveraging this recognition to highlight a product that thousands of consumers have identified as both innovative and dependable.”

göt2b®glued® 2-in-1 Brow & Edge Gel – Winner in the Hair Styling and Finishing Category Canada

göt2b® Glued® 2-in-1 Brow & Edge Gel is a multipurpose solution for your brows and edges. The fast-drying, no-sticky feel, transparent styling gel is made to create strong and lasting hold at home or on the go. The innovative product design features a wide side for applying the gel and a narrow side for styling and fixing your brow and hair contours.

“göt2b as a brand has always stood for innovation and self-expression, with a portfolio of hair coloring and styling products that empower consumers to be whoever they want to be,” says Linda Lin, Head of Hair, North America at Henkel. “It is an honor to have göt2b®glued® 2-in-1 Brow & Edge Gel endorsed by Product of the Year organization and consumers across Canada; this distinction will now be a symbol to consumers of göt2b’s credible, reliable, innovative products for all hair colors, types, and textures!”

Snuggle® Crystals In-Wash Scent Boosters – Winner in the Fabric Care Category Canada 

Snuggle® Crystals Blue Sparkle ®In-Wash Scent Boosters and Snuggle® Crystals Lavender Breeze® In-Wash Scent Boosters add the fresh scent of home to your clothes and fabrics. These beads dissolve to provide long-lasting fragrance: up to 12 weeks of freshness out of storage. They dissolve in all water temperatures, are great to use on all types of clothing – including activewear and sleepwear – and contain 95% naturally-derived ingredients, plus fragrance and other ingredients. The Snuggle® Blue Sparkle® scent brings a blend of white floral and green citrus notes, while the Snuggle® Lavender Breeze® crystals add a bouquet of fresh lavender and white florals; both blended with aromas of warm wood and soft musk.

“Snuggle recognizes that our consumers place high value in the comfort of home, and are proud that the Snuggle® Crystals In-Wash Scent Boosters and the long-lasting scents they provide for all types of clothing have been recognized as a consumer favorite for fabric care in Canada,” said Margarita Bajzelj, Marketing Director, Canada, Henkel Consumer Brands, North America. “Product of the Year recognition is a testament to Snuggle’s customer-first approach to product innovation and performance while staying true to the brand’s core principles and purpose to provide a sense of comfort, encourage togetherness, and deliver scents that are both fresh and familiar.”

^{1 Encountered in household settings
2 vs Dial® antibacterial defense liquid hand soap
3 Overall in 3+ hour clinical testing of top 85% of antibacterial liquid & foaming hand soaps with moisturizers}

Related Reading:
Henkel product winners: Product of the Year™ 2025

March 26, 2026 /3BL/ – Product of the Year™ (POY) is the world’s largest consumer-voted award for product innovation, awarded in over 40 countries across the globe each year. The purpose of the award is to guide consumers to the best products in their market and reward manufacturers for quality and innovation. Each year, POY accepts entries for consumer products that demonstrate advancement within their industries. The POY seal is backed by a survey of 40,000 people by Kantar, a global leader in product innovation research.

Congratulations to the Dial® brand for winning a 2026 Product of the Year USA Award, and to the Snuggle®, and göt2b® brands for winning 2026 Product of the Year Canada Awards!

Dial® Antibacterial + Hydrating Liquid Hand Soap – Winner in the Hand Soap Category USA

The Dial^® Antibacterial + Hydrating Liquid Hand Soap provides lasting moisturization until the next wash. Clinically proven to kill 99.9% of bacteria¹, this hand soap delivers 2x more moisturization² per wash. Its gentle, creamy formula soothes dry skin while being free from SLS/SLES, parabens, phthalates, and silicones. This new hand soap from Dial is available in three scents: Shea Butter, Coconut Milk, and Chamomile. Dial^® represents the gold standard of clean that ensures you’re ready for whatever life throws your way, giving you the confidence to move forward.

“Dial Antibacterial + Hydrating Liquid Hand Soap represents a meaningful step forward for the hand soap category. By delivering trusted antibacterial alongside superior hydration³, we’re meeting consumers where they are, without asking them to compromise on care or efficacy,” says Allison Feldman, Vice President of Personal Care & Fabric Softener at Henkel. “The Product of the Year seal is a trusted signal for shoppers, and we look forward to leveraging this recognition to highlight a product that thousands of consumers have identified as both innovative and dependable.”

göt2b®glued® 2-in-1 Brow & Edge Gel – Winner in the Hair Styling and Finishing Category Canada

göt2b® Glued® 2-in-1 Brow & Edge Gel is a multipurpose solution for your brows and edges. The fast-drying, no-sticky feel, transparent styling gel is made to create strong and lasting hold at home or on the go. The innovative product design features a wide side for applying the gel and a narrow side for styling and fixing your brow and hair contours.

“göt2b as a brand has always stood for innovation and self-expression, with a portfolio of hair coloring and styling products that empower consumers to be whoever they want to be,” says Linda Lin, Head of Hair, North America at Henkel. “It is an honor to have göt2b®glued® 2-in-1 Brow & Edge Gel endorsed by Product of the Year organization and consumers across Canada; this distinction will now be a symbol to consumers of göt2b’s credible, reliable, innovative products for all hair colors, types, and textures!”

Snuggle® Crystals In-Wash Scent Boosters – Winner in the Fabric Care Category Canada 

Snuggle® Crystals Blue Sparkle ®In-Wash Scent Boosters and Snuggle® Crystals Lavender Breeze® In-Wash Scent Boosters add the fresh scent of home to your clothes and fabrics. These beads dissolve to provide long-lasting fragrance: up to 12 weeks of freshness out of storage. They dissolve in all water temperatures, are great to use on all types of clothing – including activewear and sleepwear – and contain 95% naturally-derived ingredients, plus fragrance and other ingredients. The Snuggle® Blue Sparkle® scent brings a blend of white floral and green citrus notes, while the Snuggle® Lavender Breeze® crystals add a bouquet of fresh lavender and white florals; both blended with aromas of warm wood and soft musk.

“Snuggle recognizes that our consumers place high value in the comfort of home, and are proud that the Snuggle® Crystals In-Wash Scent Boosters and the long-lasting scents they provide for all types of clothing have been recognized as a consumer favorite for fabric care in Canada,” said Margarita Bajzelj, Marketing Director, Canada, Henkel Consumer Brands, North America. “Product of the Year recognition is a testament to Snuggle’s customer-first approach to product innovation and performance while staying true to the brand’s core principles and purpose to provide a sense of comfort, encourage togetherness, and deliver scents that are both fresh and familiar.”

^{1 Encountered in household settings
2 vs Dial® antibacterial defense liquid hand soap
3 Overall in 3+ hour clinical testing of top 85% of antibacterial liquid & foaming hand soaps with moisturizers}

Related Reading:
Henkel product winners: Product of the Year™ 2025

Inogen Alliance is pleased to announce the addition of a new Associate company, Sustainable Strategies operating throughout LATAM and based out of Guatemala. This strategic addition strengthens our presence in the LATAM region, further expanding our ability to deliver high-quality environmental, health, safety, and sustainability (EHS&S) services through a truly global network of local experts. As our multinational clients continue to grow and evolve, expanding our geographic reach remains a key priority to ensure consistent, on-the-ground support wherever they operate.

With more than 70 Associate companies and over 6,000 consultants worldwide, the Alliance continues to grow as a trusted global partner, connecting regional expertise with global coordination to solve complex challenges. The addition of Sustainable Strategies reflects our ongoing commitment to strengthening coverage in key markets, enhancing collaboration across regions, and delivering innovative, locally informed solutions that support sustainable business practices at scale.

Sustainable Strategies is a boutique consulting firm that has been operating throughout Latin America for over 16 years, providing a wide range of consulting to engineering services – Sustainability Strategy and Management Consulting Services, EHS Due Diligence for International Mergers and Acquisitions for financial institutions, Global Sustainability Reporting Services, ESG Responsible Investments, Energy Transition, among others to companies, developers, financial institutions, and other leaders seeking to invest and be competitive in Latin America

“We’re proud to announce our integration into Inogen Alliance — a strategic step that strengthens our commitment to building a better tomorrow by harnessing business for positive impact. Together, we bring global expertise to Latin America, helping companies become more competitive, bankable, and sustainable,” Nikki Bahr, CEO Sustainable Strategies.

In choosing new Associate companies to join the Alliance, we follow a thorough due diligence process to ensure alignment in values, service offerings, and complementary geographic coverage with our existing companies, with final approval by the Board of Directors. This careful approach ensures that every new Associate enhances the strength, consistency, and collaborative culture that defines Inogen Alliance.

Inogen Alliance is a global network made up of over 70 of independent local businesses and over 6,000 consultants around the world who can help make your project a success. Our Associates collaborate closely to serve multinational corporations, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations, and we share knowledge and industry experience to provide the highest quality service to our clients. If you want to learn more about how you can work with Inogen Alliance, you can explore our Associates or Contact Us. Watch for more News & Blog updates, listen to our podcast and follow us on LinkedIn.

Inogen Alliance is pleased to announce the addition of a new Associate company, Sustainable Strategies operating throughout LATAM and based out of Guatemala. This strategic addition strengthens our presence in the LATAM region, further expanding our ability to deliver high-quality environmental, health, safety, and sustainability (EHS&S) services through a truly global network of local experts. As our multinational clients continue to grow and evolve, expanding our geographic reach remains a key priority to ensure consistent, on-the-ground support wherever they operate.

With more than 70 Associate companies and over 6,000 consultants worldwide, the Alliance continues to grow as a trusted global partner, connecting regional expertise with global coordination to solve complex challenges. The addition of Sustainable Strategies reflects our ongoing commitment to strengthening coverage in key markets, enhancing collaboration across regions, and delivering innovative, locally informed solutions that support sustainable business practices at scale.

Sustainable Strategies is a boutique consulting firm that has been operating throughout Latin America for over 16 years, providing a wide range of consulting to engineering services – Sustainability Strategy and Management Consulting Services, EHS Due Diligence for International Mergers and Acquisitions for financial institutions, Global Sustainability Reporting Services, ESG Responsible Investments, Energy Transition, among others to companies, developers, financial institutions, and other leaders seeking to invest and be competitive in Latin America

“We’re proud to announce our integration into Inogen Alliance — a strategic step that strengthens our commitment to building a better tomorrow by harnessing business for positive impact. Together, we bring global expertise to Latin America, helping companies become more competitive, bankable, and sustainable,” Nikki Bahr, CEO Sustainable Strategies.

In choosing new Associate companies to join the Alliance, we follow a thorough due diligence process to ensure alignment in values, service offerings, and complementary geographic coverage with our existing companies, with final approval by the Board of Directors. This careful approach ensures that every new Associate enhances the strength, consistency, and collaborative culture that defines Inogen Alliance.

Inogen Alliance is a global network made up of over 70 of independent local businesses and over 6,000 consultants around the world who can help make your project a success. Our Associates collaborate closely to serve multinational corporations, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations, and we share knowledge and industry experience to provide the highest quality service to our clients. If you want to learn more about how you can work with Inogen Alliance, you can explore our Associates or Contact Us. Watch for more News & Blog updates, listen to our podcast and follow us on LinkedIn.

NEW YORK, March 26, 2026 /3BL/ – Governance & Accountability Institute (G&A), a leading sustainability consulting and research firm, has issued a new quick reference guide on the Voluntary Standard for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (VSME). The new guide, which is available here, is designed to help sustainability practitioners understand the new sustainability reporting framework which has been recommended by the European Commission.

“Large companies subject to the CSRD are working to disclose required information on their value chains,” said Louis Coppola, CEO & Co-Founder at G&A Institute. “The VSME offers a framework to help suppliers respond to data requests and provide a structure for their disclosures.”

The new quick reference guide includes:

• An outline of the new Standard’s purpose, scope, and disclosure requirements
• A clear summary of the two disclosure paths (the Basic Module and the optional Comprehensive Module) to support practical decision-making around value chain data requests and voluntary reporting
• Highlights of the VSME’s connection to CSRD and ESRS, and how it is intended to be used
• Context on how the VSME fits within the broader EU sustainability regulatory landscape
• Why a standardized approach for SMEs is important for supply chain data quality and resilience

This guide supports sustainability, supply chain, and procurement teams at large companies managing CSRD value chain obligations, as well as SMEs operating within those supply chains.

Coppola said, “The VSME helps ensure the reporting burden for SMEs is proportional to their size and capacity to provide ESG information. G&A is available to help companies with strategic planning to help navigate the evolving regulatory reporting requirements in Europe.”

G&A’s new Quick Reference Guide is available for download on the company website.

About G&A Institute, Inc.
Founded in 2006, Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc. (G&A) is a sustainability consulting and research firm headquartered in New York City. G&A helps corporate and investor clients recognize, understand, and develop winning strategies for sustainability and ESG issues to address stakeholder and shareholder concerns. G&A’s proprietary, comprehensive full-suite process for sustainability reporting is designed to help organizations achieve sustainability leadership in their industry and sector and maximize return on investment for sustainability initiatives.

Since 2011, G&A has been building and expanding a comprehensive database of corporate sustainability reporting data based on analysis of thousands of ESG and sustainability reports to help steer strategy for our clients and improve their disclosure and reporting. More information is available on our website at ga-institute.com.

FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES & INTERVIEWS, CONTACT
Louis D. Coppola
CEO & Co-Founder 
Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc. 
Tel 646.430.8230 ext 14 
Email lcoppola@ga-institute.com