Zilch and EcoVadis are not direct substitutes.
EcoVadis assesses how a company manages sustainability. Zilch creates sustainability information about the individual products a supplier or distributor sells.
In simple terms:
- EcoVadis helps answer, "Is this a responsible supplier?"
- Zilch helps answer, "What is the impact of the product we are buying?"
A distributor may need one, both or neither depending on what customers are asking. But using a company rating to answer a product question creates a gap — and can create risk if the rating is presented as proof that a specific product is sustainable.
What EcoVadis does
EcoVadis assesses the quality of a company's sustainability management system. The methodology considers policies, actions and results across four themes:
- Environment
- Labour and human rights
- Ethics
- Sustainable procurement
The assessment is tailored to the company's activity, size and operating location. The business completes a questionnaire and uploads formal evidence. EcoVadis analysts review the submission and produce a score from 0 to 100, four theme scores, strengths and improvement areas.
Medals are based on percentile rank. Platinum represents the top 1% of assessed companies, Gold the top 5%, Silver the top 15% and Bronze the top 35%, subject to minimum theme scores and other eligibility rules.
For a distributor, there are two common uses:
- Complete an EcoVadis assessment because corporate customers request a scorecard.
- Use EcoVadis ratings to assess suppliers as part of sustainable procurement.
EcoVadis is strongest where procurement wants a recognised and standardised view of company-level maturity.
What Zilch does
Zilch helps suppliers and distributors calculate, organise and share sustainability information at SKU level.
The platform is built around physical product data: materials, weights, manufacturing, packaging, branding, transport, relevant certifications and sourcing evidence. Its lifecycle assessment engine converts product inputs into carbon footprint results, with the assumptions and methodology documented for customer and audit use.
The data can then be used in:
- Tenders and RFPs
- Product pages and catalogues
- Quotes and invoices
- Customer footprint reports
- Buyer-facing product disclosures
- Supplier and distributor data feeds
Zilch is strongest when a buyer needs to evaluate, select or report on products — not simply approve the supplier.
The most important difference: company versus product
Imagine a promotional product distributor with a strong EcoVadis score. The score may show that the company has credible environmental policies, labour controls, ethics practices and a sustainable procurement system.
A customer then asks whether a particular reusable bottle has lower emissions than a recycled-plastic alternative.
The EcoVadis score cannot answer that. It does not contain the products' material weights, manufacturing processes, transport routes, packaging or declared units.
The reverse is also true. A well-calculated product carbon footprint does not prove that the supplier has an effective anti-bribery program, grievance channel or human-rights due-diligence process.
The two systems operate at different levels.
EcoVadis makes this limitation explicit: its medals and badges are not product labels, do not indicate that a company's products are sustainable and should not be used for product-level environmental claims.
Assessment process
EcoVadis
The company registers, receives a customised questionnaire, answers it with supporting documents and submits the assessment for expert analysis. EcoVadis says the standard scorecard publication timeframe is generally six to eight weeks after questionnaire submission.
The work is largely organisational. Evidence may come from HR, procurement, leadership, operations, sustainability and compliance. The result reflects the company at the time of assessment and is normally valid for 12 months.
Zilch
The distributor or supplier brings in product data, completes or reviews assessments and publishes results into the relevant customer workflow. Zilch supports bulk uploads, AI-assisted prefilling and matching across similar product variants.
Zilch's website states that individual product assessments can be completed in around 30 seconds and that thousands of SKUs can be handled in one system. The actual implementation depends on the quality of the catalogue and supplier data, but it is designed as an ongoing product-data workflow rather than a single annual company assessment.
Outputs
EcoVadis produces a company scorecard, theme scores, strengths, improvement areas and, where eligible, a medal or badge. These outputs help procurement teams assess a supplier's sustainability management.
Zilch produces SKU-level results and supporting reports that can be attached to purchasing and sales activity. These outputs help buyers understand the products they are comparing or purchasing.
That creates a practical distinction:
- EcoVadis sits naturally in supplier onboarding and procurement governance.
- Zilch sits naturally in the catalogue, tender, quote, product page and order.
Carbon and Scope 3
EcoVadis considers climate management within its environmental theme and also offers separate carbon products. This can help a company assess carbon-management maturity and work with trading partners.
Zilch focuses on product-level emissions. For purchased goods and services, the GHG Protocol says supplier-specific product-level data is the most accurate method because it relates to the actual good purchased and avoids allocation.
That makes product carbon footprints valuable when a corporate customer wants to improve a Scope 3 Category 1 inventory, compare products or move beyond spend-based averages.
The choice depends on the question:
- "Does the supplier measure and manage emissions?" → company-level carbon and EcoVadis evidence
- "What emissions are embedded in 10,000 units of this product?" → product-level data
Sustainability claims
A distributor should not describe a product as "EcoVadis certified". EcoVadis is not a product certification, and its medal does not transfer to every SKU.
Equally, a product carbon footprint only supports a carbon claim within its stated scope. It does not prove that the product is environmentally preferable across water, toxicity, biodiversity, labour or every other impact category.
For Australian businesses, the ACCC says environmental claims should be accurate, specific and supported by reasonable evidence. The evidence, assumptions and important qualifications should be available to the buyer.
Zilch is designed to keep product evidence and calculation methodology attached to the result. EcoVadis provides governed company-level evidence. Used correctly, both can reduce vague and unsupported sustainability claims.
Cost and commercial return
EcoVadis pricing depends on company size, subscription plan and location. The larger internal cost is often evidence preparation and the work required to improve the underlying system.
Zilch pricing depends on the product volume and implementation. Its commercial return is usually tied to using the data in sales: winning tenders, retaining customers, responding faster and differentiating product ranges.
This is another reason not to compare the subscription prices alone. The value of EcoVadis may be access to a customer's approved-supplier network. The value of Zilch may be converting that approval into better product responses and more orders.
Choose EcoVadis when…
- A strategic customer has explicitly requested an EcoVadis scorecard
- You need a recognised company-level sustainability rating
- You want structured improvement areas across environment, labour, ethics and procurement
- Procurement needs a standardised method for assessing suppliers
- Your sustainability-management system — not product data — is the immediate gap
Choose Zilch when…
- Customers ask for product carbon footprints or product-level sustainability evidence
- Tender responses rely on individual product claims
- Sales teams cannot easily compare products on impact
- You need sustainability information in catalogues, product pages, quotes or invoices
- The business manages too many SKUs for one-off assessments
- Corporate customers need data to support purchased-goods Scope 3 reporting
Use both when…
Large corporate and government buyers want confidence in the supplier and the product.
For example, a distributor could use its EcoVadis scorecard to demonstrate company-wide sustainability management, supplier screening and governance. It could then use Zilch to provide carbon, material and sourcing information for the products proposed in the tender.
The combination creates a stronger answer:
We have a credible system for managing sustainability — and here is the evidence for the products you are considering.
That is more useful than a medal floating beside a catalogue with no connection to the SKUs inside it.
The verdict
EcoVadis is the better choice for assessing the company. Zilch is the better choice for assessing and communicating product impact across a catalogue.
If a customer has asked for EcoVadis, give them EcoVadis. If they are asking about products, do not expect a company scorecard to do a product-data platform's job.
To see what SKU-level impact looks like in practice, view Zilch's product impact workflow or book a call.