(ISO: Geneva) -- Sustainability claims are everywhere. From recycled plastics and responsibly sourced fibers to renewable fuels and low-carbon materials, companies increasingly promise products with specific environmental or social characteristics.

But in complex global supply chains, proving those claims isn’t always straightforward. Materials move through multiple processing steps and are mixed, transformed, and traded across borders. Without robust systems to track and verify what happens along the way, the credibility of sustainability claims can quickly come into question.

That is where chain-of-custody (CoC) systems play a critical role.

The framework behind the claims

Chain of custody provides the mechanisms that allow organizations to trace, account for, and communicate the characteristics of materials as they move through supply chains. Yet these systems have been applied differently in various industries, sometimes without a common reference point.

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