Sustainability managers face a persistent challenge when assessing the environmental impact of extensive product portfolios, potentially hundreds of thousands of SKUs. Traditionally, this has meant choosing between two approaches: commissioning detailed Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) from consultants for hero products, knowing the process creates expensive static snapshots, or running quick automated assessments across the full range while accepting they will miss crucial details that could undermine carbon reduction strategies and stakeholder confidence.
For years, this has been the reality for businesses pursuing product-level sustainability. The choice between methodological rigour and practical scalability has forced companies into an uncomfortable compromise.
That era is ending.
Manual LCAs have earned their reputation for thoroughness. Consultants meticulously map every input, every process, every transport mile. But this precision comes with significant constraints:
Meanwhile, early automated tools promised speed and scale but delivered surface-level insights that sustainability managers couldn't confidently present to stakeholders or use for meaningful decision-making.
Today's leading automated platforms are systematically closing the detail gap between manual and automated assessments. Rather than replacing the rigor of traditional LCAs, these platforms are scaling it, delivering the granular insights businesses need with the speed and efficiency modern sustainability strategies demand.
A concrete example of this evolution is Sustained's new ability to model a product's entire packaging hierarchy, a capability that demonstrates how automated tools are achieving consultant-level detail.
Previously, assessments focused only on consumer-facing packaging, missing a significant portion of environmental impact. Now, our platform captures:
Multi-Level Transport Packaging: Model up to three additional packaging levels beyond the consumer pack:
Precise Impact Allocation: By capturing dimensions and structure at each level, the platform calculates accurate impacts for transport and storage across the supply chain.
Supply Chain Accuracy: Define exactly where each packaging element is removed - whether at distribution centres or retail locations, ensuring waste and transport impacts are allocated to the correct lifecycle stage.
This level of detail was previously only available through manual assessment. Now it's automated, scalable, and updates in real-time as your supply chain evolves.
This isn't just about technical capability, it's about transforming what's possible for sustainability managers:
The historic compromise between accuracy and scalability is becoming obsolete. As a sustainability manager, you can now:
We continue to advance toward perfect granularity in automated assessment. With each development, such as comprehensive packaging system modelling, we demonstrate that the traditional trade-off between detail and efficiency no longer needs to constrain sustainability ambitions.
The future of product-level sustainability isn't about choosing between speed and accuracy. It's about having both, at the scale your business demands.
Ready to move beyond the trade-off? Discover how Sustained delivers consultant-level rigor with automated efficiency for your entire product portfolio.