Our approach

Sustainability in the IT supply chain is complex. That’s why TCO Certified is designed as a system, where mandatory criteria and independent verification work together to drive improvements and help buyers avoid greenwashing.

Our on-the-ground approach, with mandatory on-site factory assessments, is key to real progress. TCO Certified Accepted Factory List is an important part of this system. By increasing transparency and accountability at the factory level, it strengthens the impact of the criteria and helps accelerate improvements in working conditions and environmental performance.

TCO Certified Accepted Factory List is designed to turn sustainability requirements into measurable action at factory level. It combines independent audits, risk categorization, and continuous follow-up to ensure that improvements are not just promised — but verified. The program also creates transparency for IT brands, making it easier to choose lower-risk production sites. This shifts business toward better-performing factories and strengthens incentives for progress over time.

Independent auditors specialized in social and environmental sustainability regularly carry out factory inspections at sites where certified products are manufactured. These audits must meet RBA-VAP or SA8000 standards. If non-conformities to TCO Certified criteria are found, we require a corrective action plan and set a clear timeframe for resolving the issues. Auditors then conduct a closure audit to confirm that the non-conformities have been addressed. If issues remain, we require further corrective actions and continue monitoring until compliance is achieved. In addition, auditors carry out annual spot-check audits at selected factories.

With TCO Certified Accepted Factory List, auditing is risk-based, meaning follow-up is adapted to each factory’s performance and operating context. For IT buyers and users, this means reduced supply chain risk, and stronger assurance that certified products are manufactured responsibly.

New factories enter the program as risk category 1 (higher risk) and have up to 18 months to close all major and priority non-conformities — including compliance with the maximum 60-hour working week — through an initial audit and closure audit. Factories cannot remain in this category long-term and must advance to category 2 or 3 to stay in the program.

Factories in risk category 2 (moderate risk) have demonstrated established compliance but operate in higher governance-risk countries. To retain their status, they must undergo a full initial and closure audit every 24 months.

Factories in risk category 3 (lower risk) have demonstrated sustained compliance and operate in lower governance-risk countries, or hold a valid SA8000 certification. These factories undergo a full audit every 36 months, with closure audits required if major non-conformities are identified.

This risk-based system is an efficient way of working. It focuses more frequent audits and closer monitoring on higher-risk factories, where the need for improvement is greatest, while recognizing and maintaining oversight of lower-risk factories that demonstrate consistent performance. The result is better use of resources, faster correction of serious issues, and continuous progress across the supply chain.

High-risk factories that fail to make progress will be removed from TCO Certified Accepted Factory List, sending a clear message to factory management. Once excluded, a factory can no longer manufacture certified products, which means it will lose business as IT brands move production to factories with safer working conditions and lower environmental impact.

This is groundbreaking. Sustainability becomes good business. More ambitious factories attract more business, and factory management is incentivized to prioritize sustainability.

Background

To solve a problem, you need to understand its root causes. When sustainable choices are bad for business, change will happen slowly and reluctantly. That’s why we created a tool that flipped the logic and made sustainability a business advantage. In this article, our supply chain criteria developer Stephen Fuller explains more.

“The global IT supply chain is linked to significant social and environmental risks — from unsafe working conditions, excessive overtime, and forced labor to local and global environmental impacts. At the same time, intense price pressure, fragmented auditing practices, and limited buyer influence often stand in the way of real investments in sustainability. With more than 30 years of industry insight, we turn knowledge into solutions that drive real, lasting progress.

“IT brands, on the other hand, often felt they lacked leverage. Many represented only a small share of a factory’s total production — sometimes as little as 10 percent — giving factories little incentive to prioritize their requirements. If the same expectations were not shared by the factory’s larger clients, management typically did not consider them important enough to act on.

“TCO Certified Accepted Factory List was developed as a practical response to these challenges. By making each factory’s risk level visible to its customers — the IT brands — the program helps shift business toward better-performing facilities. This creates a clear incentive for factories to invest in labor rights and environmental improvements, and enables both large and small IT brands to make a meaningful impact through smarter sourcing decisions.”

The result

TCO Certified’s supply chain criteria and TCO Certified Accepted Factory List drive measurable progress for workers across global IT supply chains. Today, around 275,000 people at 180 factories are affected by improvements that strengthen access to safer working conditions, reduced exposure to hazardous substances and fundamental labor rights.

263 factories have been registered on TCO Certified Accepted Factory List between December 2018 and December 2024. Over time, 83 of these factories have been removed from the list — most within the first two years. Factories are removed when they fail to make sufficient progress or do not implement the required corrective actions to address identified non-compliances.

These figures reflect the intended purpose of the accepted factory list. Continued participation is not automatic. Factories must demonstrate real improvement over time, by solving issues found in audits, and complying with the criteria in TCO Certified, which get stricter and more comprehensive every three years. Without concrete follow-through, factories cannot remain on the list.

Factories that have remained active on TCO Certified Accepted Factory List from the start retain their status by consistently investing time and resources in sustainability improvements and by implementing the corrective actions defined in independently verified corrective action plans. As a result, working conditions continue to improve and environmental impacts are reduced. These efforts go beyond short-term audit compliance and reflect a long-term commitment to maintaining their place on TCO Certified Accepted Factory List and building stable, long-term business relationships.

There is a clear shift in mindset among factory owners. Previously, many of them questioned why they should invest in sustainability when less responsible competitors faced no consequences. Sustainability efforts were often seen as costly, with little return. With TCO Certified Accepted Factory List, progress becomes visible to customers, giving factories a clear business incentive to invest in fairer, more responsible production.

Excessive overtime is no longer seen as normal business practice, but as an issue that must be addressed systematically. This has led to better production planning, closer monitoring of working hours, and adjustments to staffing levels.

Our demands for limited working hours have also led to higher wages. Factory owners can no longer rely on workers accepting excessive overtime to earn enough to cover basic living costs. In several cases, this has made it necessary to increase base wages in order to better meet workers’ living wage needs and retain employees.

Factory workers have greater influence over their working conditions. Worker representation, dialogue between workers and management, and internal grievance processes have been strengthened. Workplace concerns are increasingly documented, tracked, and addressed rather than ignored. The structured management system for worker voice and follow-up required in TCO Certified has enabled factory management to identify issues earlier, respond more consistently, and demonstrate continuous improvement over time.

Improvements go beyond the production lines used for certified products. With TCO Certified, only audits conducted according to SA8000 or RBA-VAP are accepted. These audits assess the entire factory, not selected production lines. As a result, management systems, controls on working hours, grievance handling, and worker–management dialogue are strengthened throughout the factory. This improves conditions not only for workers producing TCO Certified products, but also for those manufacturing products for other customers.