Why do we need this information?
The overview of unique materials is useful for matching each identified material with an impact reference from the ecoinvent database, an Environmental Product Declaration or a custom impact source. This process converts your product data, like the materials used, into impact data.
Related to other chapters?
Your product materials data is directly connected to the products that appear in the purchase and sales orders in the Collection chapters. Understanding the impact of each material is crucial for determining the overall material impact per product and ultimately, for all products purchased or sold.
Products page - materials
Explanation of columns
Material: Name of the material
Supplier: Name of the supplier manufacturing the material. If you don’t have this information on a material level, please use the supplier manufacturing the product and define the supplier once on level 0
Supplier address: The address of the supplier manufacturing the material. If you don’t have this information on a material level, please use the supplier manufacturing the product and define the supplier once on level 0
Impact match: The match of a material with an impact reference e.g. those from the ecoinvent database, an Environmental Product Declaration or a custom impact reference
Impact: Carbon and environmental impact of the materials used in the product.
Total mass: Total weight of the specific material in the user's inventory.
Relations: Number of products containing the material
Status: Status of the impact matching
How it works
Start by clicking on a material name, after which the material detail page will come up.
Click on the Edit button, which will allow you to add an impact reference to your material.
Firstly, the AI Wizard will show up, suggesting a set of possible matches based on the material names and other features, such as in what products the material is present, in what components it is present, and where the material is sourced, providing a logic for each material match. This allows for a quick and thorough impact reference match.
You can also browse through the different tabs to select an impact reference from different impact databases (e.g. Ecoinvent, Agrifootprint, etc), for when the AI suggestions are not suitable (keep in mind that it is a Beta version). See an explanation of how to choose an impact reference here.
An impact reference is now linked to your material and the resulting environmental impact is automatically calculated.
FAQ
How does Root match the materials to impact data in the ecoinvent database?
We recently introduced a beta matching algorithm, which automatically suggests some possible impact reference matches based on the material you upload. Please always check if the suggested match makes sense since we are still training our model!
Why is my material status incomplete?
Your material status may be incomplete because it has yet to be matched to an impact reference from an impact database or a custom impact reference. If the status remains incomplete after you've matched it with an impact reference, it could be due to a missing unit conversion. For example, if you've entered a material in square meters (m²) in the BOM, we may also need its conversion to grams.