How sustainability questionnaires can affect your next contract
If you’re a small business, you may soon receive a sustainability questionnaire from one of your top customers. This is true for any industry, whether you’re a manufacturer, farmer, or have a law firm. Companies of all sizes are increasingly being asked to track sustainability information and report it. This is because large organizations must report on the environmental and social impacts of their entire supply chain. For example, a large public pharmaceutical company needs to report to regulators, investors, and others about the amount of greenhouse gases that their company emits. But, they also need to report on the greenhouse gases that their suppliers emit. And not just their immediate suppliers; they may need to report on all suppliers down the whole “tail” of the supply chain. This is where supplier sustainability questionnaires come into play.
Suppliers’ greenhouse gas emissions are often a substantial part of a large company’s “carbon footprint.” Large companies are facing pressure to minimize their own carbon footprints (greenhouse gas emissions). By choosing suppliers that have smaller carbon footprints, they can more easily show reduced emissions for themselves. Responding to these sustainability questionnaires appropriately will help you keep and win contracts over time.
What is a supplier sustainability questionnaire?
A sustainability questionnaire is a document that asks suppliers to provide information about their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices. More large companies are starting to use these questionnaires to determine which companies to contract with. They want a better understanding of whether you might be a risk to their reputation or compliance with regulations.
Most questionnaires for small businesses are only a few pages long, while those for large corporations may contain hundreds of questions.
Questionnaires may include topics such as:
Environmental
- Annual electricity and fuel consumption
- Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
- Waste generation and recycling
- Water consumption
- Renewable energy usage
- Climate-related goals
Social
- Employee health and safety
- Diversity and inclusion
- Training programs
- Human rights policies
- Community involvement
Governance
- Business ethics
- Anti-corruption policies
- Data privacy and cybersecurity
- Supplier management
- Risk management
- Whistleblower procedures
The good news is that most customers do not expect small businesses to have perfect sustainability data. They are mostly interested in transparency, willingness to track sustainability-related data, and evidence that their suppliers are making progress over time.
See our blog post: Sustainability reporting differences for small vs. large companies
Example of a simple sustainability questionnaire
Source: wwf.org
Example of a more comprehensive sustainability questionnaire
What is a supplier code of conduct?
A supplier code of conduct is different from a questionnaire. Instead of asking you to report information, it explains the standards your customer expects suppliers to follow. These documents commonly include expectations related to:
- Environmental responsibility
- Safe working conditions
- Fair labor practices
- Ethical sourcing
- Data protection
More and more, large companies require suppliers to acknowledge or sign these documents before doing business together.
A supplier code of conduct states your customer’s expectations.
The sustainability questionnaire is a way to measure progress toward those expectations.
Why Manufacturers Receive These Requests More Often
Manufacturers often consume significant amounts of electricity, natural gas, fuels, packaging materials, and raw materials. Because of this, manufacturing suppliers can have a significant impact on a customer’s overall environmental footprint.
As companies work to better understand emissions across their value chains, manufacturers are increasingly asked to provide information that helps customers estimate or calculate these impacts.
What If You Don’t Have All the Answers
One of the biggest misconceptions of folks at small businesses is that you must have every policy, metric, and calculation completed before responding.
In reality, many customers simply want suppliers to begin measuring sustainability information and demonstrate continuous improvement.
It’s acceptable to explain that you are:
- Beginning to measure greenhouse gas emissions
- Collecting utility and fuel data
- Developing sustainability policies
- Establishing reduction goals
- Improving data quality each year
The important thing is to show that you take sustainability seriously and are taking solid steps towards improvement.
Practical Example: Supplier Sustainability Questionnaire
Let’s take a look at typical questions that you might find on a supplier sustainability questionnaire by looking at an example.
Imagine that ABC Metalworks, Inc., a 30-employee machine shop, supplies metal components to a large medical device manufacturer. One day, they receive an email asking them to complete a supplier sustainability questionnaire within 30 days.
The operations manager has never completed a greenhouse gas inventory or written a sustainability report. Fortunately, they already have most of the information they need—they just haven’t organized it yet.
Question 1: Does your company measure greenhouse gas emissions?
Why the customer is asking
The customer is trying to understand emissions throughout its supply chain. Your emissions may become part of your customer’s Scope 3 greenhouse gas inventory (their own emissions are included in Scopes 1 and 2).
Tips for responding
If you don’t yet measure GHG emissions, you can talk about the steps that you are taking to begin tracking them. For example, use statements such as:
ABC Metalworks, Inc. began collecting utility and fuel consumption data during 2026 and is developing its first greenhouse gas inventory. We will use our 2026 data to set targets for reducing emissions. The company plans to update emissions calculations annually and use the results to identify energy-saving opportunities.
Why this works
The customer sees that you have started the process, have a plan for calculating your emissions, and are setting reduction targets.
Question 2: What energy sources does your facility use?
Why the customer is asking
They want to understand where energy is coming from and whether it’s primarily from renewable or non-renewable (fossil fuels) sources. Energy sources can be those used to provide your electricity, heat your building, power your vehicle fleet, etc.
Tips for responding
This one can be tricky and may take more time to respond because you will have to do some research into the “source mix” of your electricity. For example, you will need to find out how much of your electricity is sourced from non-renewable fuel sources such as coal compared to renewable sources such as wind and solar.
Question 3: Do you have environmental goals or an environmental policy?
Why the customer is asking
They want to understand whether your company is prioritizing sustainability in your overall business strategy.
Tips for responding
List your goals for GHG emissions, energy efficiency, waste disposal, and water use if applicable. You could also state that your team is working on setting environmental goals and how you will approach this process, if you don’t yet have goals.
Remember that even a simple goal demonstrates commitment.
A one-page policy might include commitments to:
- Comply with environmental regulations
- Reduce energy consumption
- Reduce waste
- Prevent water pollution
- Continually improve performance
If you are still drafting the policy, you can say:
An environmental policy is currently being finalized and is expected to be finalized by January 2027.
Question 4: Describe actions taken to reduce environmental impacts.
Why the customer is asking
Your customer wants to know whether you are aware of how your operations and activities cause negative impacts and how you might address these impacts.
Tips for responding
You need to include details about specific changes that you’ve made or actions you’re taking that will make a measurable difference in reducing negative impacts.
Think about improvements you’ve already made.
Examples include:
- Replaced fluorescent lighting with LED lighting
- Installed high-efficiency air compressors
- Improved preventive maintenance
- Reduced compressed air leaks on equipment in our headquarters
- Reduced packaging waste
The more details that you can include as well as timelines, the better.
Question 5: Do you monitor waste generation?
Why the customer is asking
Your customer wants to know whether you are aware of how your operations and activities cause negative impacts and how you might address these impacts.
Tips for responding
You want to respond honestly with any tasks that you have been doing to track this. For example:
ABC Metalworks, Inc. separates scrap metal for recycling and tracks waste disposal invoices. Beginning in 2027, the company plans to record annual waste quantities to establish a performance baseline. This will enable us to measure and reduce the amount of waste that’s disposed of.
If you don’t know exact quantities yet, that’s okay as long as you show that you have plans to measure this in the future.
Question 6: How do you ensure continuous improvement?
Why the customer is asking
Customers are looking for evidence that sustainability is part of your core strategy and is an ongoing process.
Tips for responding
You want to show that you are working on sustainability initiatives and progress throughout the year. You want to describe how often you evaluate your programs and progress and how you plant to “right the ship” if you are falling behind.
What Your Customers Really Want to Know
Notice that many questions are not asking for perfect data—they are asking whether you have a process.
Customers generally want to know:
- Do you measure your impacts?
- Do you understand where your emissions come from?
- Are you complying with regulations?
- Are you making improvements over time?
- Can you provide reliable information when asked?
- Are you setting policies (environmental, health & safety, etc.) that will reduce risks associated with your impacts?
For most small businesses, the biggest challenge isn’t the lack of sustainability efforts—it’s that the information is scattered across utility bills, accounting records, maintenance logs, purchasing records, and employee handbooks.
By organizing this information into a simple sustainability reporting system, you can respond to questionnaires more quickly, reduce the burden on staff, and demonstrate to customers that your business is a reliable supplier.
Getting Started Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated
While large companies have the staff and budget to hire companies to help them screen suppliers, smaller companies are often left to figure things out on their own. However, you don’t need expensive software or a team of sustainability specialists to begin preparing for customer requests.
Start by gathering your utility bills, fuel records, and basic company policies. Create a simple process for tracking key environmental information throughout the year. As your reporting matures, you can expand your data collection to include additional metrics, reduction goals, and supplier information.
Whether your first request arrives next month or next year, taking small, consistent steps today can make responding faster, easier, and more accurate—and help position your business as a trusted supplier in an increasingly sustainability-focused marketplace.
Image credits:
metalworker: Image by Emir Krasnic from Pixabay