Introduction: A Converging Landscape
regulatory landscape. Traditional compliance systems—built around food safety, legality, product integrity, and supplier management—are increasingly being asked to integrate sustainability expectations alongside existing safety and regulatory obligations.
This convergence is driven by emerging frameworks such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Green Claims Directive, extended producer responsibility requirements, and updated Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulations (PPWR). These create new obligations for data governance, supplier oversight, and shared accountability across functions.
For Quality and Sustainability leaders, the challenge isn’t just volume of requirements—it’s the convergence itself. Sustainability expectations are now embedded within the same governance, audit, and evidence processes used in familiar certification frameworks such as BRCGS, ISO 22000, ISO 9001, and FAMI-QS. Data integrity, traceability, governance, internal audits, supplier oversight: these have become the backbone of credible sustainability reporting.
The question now is how to extend those systems to incorporate sustainability expectations without duplication or unnecessary burden. Many organisations still manage compliance and sustainability as separate workstreams, resulting in fragmented data, duplicated effort, limited transparency, and heightened risk—particularly when sustainability claims must be “clear, accurate, and verifiable.”
This guide outlines practical ways to understand what is changing, where current systems may fall short, and how to strengthen integration between compliance and sustainability.
1. The New Regulatory Landscape: What’s Changing and Why It Matters
Regulatory drivers shaping the next five years
Sustainability legislation increasingly intersects with the same operational domains as food safety and regulatory compliance:
• CSRD introduces mandatory reporting and assurance on sustainability KPIs.
• The Green Claims Directive requires environmental claims to be supported by transparent, verifiable evidence.
• PPWR revisions introduce traceability and documentation expectations for packaging.
• Chemical regulations such as REACH, TSCA, and PFAS restrictions introduce sustainability-related compliance obligations.
• Retailer and customer programmes increasingly mirror these requirements, often with accelerated timelines.
These obligations rely on documented understanding of regulatory requirements, structured management systems, and traceable data—disciplines already familiar to compliance teams.
Why this matters for compliance leaders
Compliance managers already operate complex audit, risk, and documentation systems. Now, they must apply the same rigour to sustainability data—material sourcing, waste, emissions, carbon accounting, recycled content, and deforestation-free supply chains.
Fragmented global legislation adds complexity: differing definitions of recyclability, varied reporting thresholds, and inconsistent due-diligence requirements. Integrated systems can support consistent, cross-market compliance.
Rising expectations for governance and accountability
Regulators, retailers, and brand owners increasingly expect:
• documented supplier due diligence
• transparent risk assessments
• reliable sustainability data
• clear communication across the supply chain
These expectations mirror robust food-contact compliance requirements and naturally align with quality and regulatory systems.
2. Mapping Sustainability Expectations onto Existing Compliance Systems
A structured mapping exercise helps organisations identify where sustainability expectations connect to existing compliance processes and where new capability is required.
Where systems already align
Many existing management system elements—governance, documentation control, traceability, and audits—support sustainability reporting. For example, traceability systems (lot codes, batch records, specifications) directly support claims involving recycled content or circularity.
These mechanisms underpin sustainability topics such as:
• recycled-content verification
• chain of custody
• circular-design criteria
• emissions and waste reporting
• evidence for customer/regulatory disclosures
Identifying gaps
Common gaps include:
• depth of sustainability data (emissions, waste, circularity)
• supplier sustainability competence
• evidence required for Green Claims
• cross-market variation in requirements
• technical complexity (e.g., recycled-content safety under EU/US rules)
A practical 5-step mapping method
- Identify sustainability obligations by market and product category.
- Map expectations against existing certification requirements.
- Highlight overlaps and gaps (evidence, data owners, sources).
- Define integration opportunities that strengthen current systems.
- Assign responsibilities and review through management review.
In practice:
A global packaging supplier we supported mapped PPWR and recycled-content requirements against their ISO 9001 and BRCGS systems. They discovered that 60% of sustainability evidence fields already existed in existing workflows. By integrating sustainability into established governance and documentation structures, they reduced duplication and accelerated readiness for customer and regulatory disclosures.
See how FoodChain ID supports integrated sustainability and compliance alignment →
https://www.foodchainid.com/sustainability/
3. Strengthening Data Integrity and Traceability
Sustainability reporting requires complete, reliable, traceable, and consistent data across internal teams and suppliers.
Key data challenges
• multiple data owners
• variable supplier evidence
• manual workflows (spreadsheets, email)
• limited audit trails
• inconsistent definitions
• unclear distinctions between ownership, validation, and approval
Principles for robust, verifiable sustainability data
• single source of truth
• standardised KPI and claim definitions
• traceability from raw materials to finished goods
• structured evidence libraries (DoCs, LCA data, test reports, supplier declarations)
• verification steps: internal checks, third-party validation, audits
• documented, approved evidence source
Digitalisation
Digital tools help—but the underlying governance matters more. Align sustainability workflows with QA systems and build audit readiness in from the start.
4. Embedding Sustainability into Audit and Reporting Cycles
Sustainability data will increasingly be subject to assurance. Built-in integration reduces duplication and increases confidence.
Integrate sustainability into:
• supplier audits
• traceability/mass-balance checks
• packaging changes
• waste/emissions processes
• environmental claims validation
Management review should include:
• sustainability KPIs
• regulatory horizon scanning
• supplier risks
• claim validation
• data quality findings
Preparing now positions organisations ahead of CSRD assurance timelines.
5. Developing Cross-Functional Accountability
Sustainability requires shared responsibility across:
• Procurement
• Technical & Packaging
• Operations
• QA & Regulatory
• Marketing/Commercial
• EHS
This shared-governance model strengthens claim accuracy, reduces risk, and embeds sustainability in everyday decision-making.
A Practical Roadmap for Integrated Sustainability & Compliance
Step 1 — Identify your regulatory landscape
• Determine which frameworks apply (CSRD, Green Claims, PPWR, retailer standards).
• Map differences across markets.
Step 2 — Map onto existing systems
• Use existing management systems as the backbone.
• Identify overlaps in governance, audit, evidence, and traceability.
Step 3 — Strengthen data foundations
• Build a sustainability data inventory with definitions, owners, validation, and documentation requirements.
• Consolidate data sources and workflows.
Step 4 — Elevate supplier due diligence
• Strengthen questionnaires and audit criteria.
• Assess supplier capability and evidence quality.
Step 5 — Formalise governance
• Define roles, responsibilities, and KPI owners.
• Integrate sustainability into audits and management review.
Step 6 — Validate claims & disclosures
• Align with Green Claims Directive and market rules.
• Check alignment between sustainability disclosures, specifications, and operational data.
Step 7 — Prepare for assurance
• Maintain structured, version-controlled repositories.
• Test traceability and mass-balance claims.
• Prepare for CSRD assurance or customer audits.
Conclusion: Compliance as the Engine of Credible Sustainability
As regulations evolve, sustainability will increasingly be judged by the same criteria as compliance: accuracy, traceability, governance, and evidence. Organisations that integrate sustainability into compliance systems will move faster, reduce risk, and strengthen market credibility.
Discuss Your Sustainability Readiness with Our Experts
Preparing for CSRD, navigating the Green Claims Directive, or strengthening your sustainability and compliance systems?
Discuss your sustainability readiness with our experts → https://www.foodchainid.com/sustainability/