SupplierConnect: Guide for Packaging Suppliers

If you’re a packaging supplier who’s been invited to use SupplierConnect, welcome!

Your customer is working to collect sustainability data across their supply chain, and your participation helps enable more accurate, product-level insights. This article walks you through how to get started and what to expect.

What is SupplierConnect?

HowGood’s SupplierConnect platform instantly calculates your product footprints and simplifies sustainability reporting to your customers.

Each step is designed to make it easier for you to share sustainability data securely and efficiently - while also gaining insights into your own products.

Your product footprints are calculated in-platform using the basic component and sourcing data you provide. Sharing footprints to your customer is seamless, secure, and can be completed directly in SupplierConnect.

Your proprietary information is always kept confidential - only the calculated footprints are shared with your customer, and you have access to view your carbon and water footprints. The product details you provide are never shared.

Key Features

Pre-populated product lists. HowGood uploads the list of products for which your customer has requested sustainability data - so you have immediate visibility into what needs to be done.
Automatic product footprint calculations. Enter basic product component and sourcing details, and SupplierConnect instantly calculates accurate sustainability metrics.
Shared insights. Access carbon and water footprints for each of your products.
Flexible data submission. Add as much or as little product information as you have, refining later as needed. You don’t need to pre-calculate any sustainability data. Option available to upload your existing LCAs or other emissions documentation.
Always secure and confidential. The data you provide stays private. Your product data is never shared with customers - they only see product footprints.

Step 1: Logging in and Setting Up Your Account

Once you receive your invitation and register, you’ll be able to log in to SupplierConnect.

Important note: When you first log in, you likely won’t see your product list yet. Instead, you’ll see a message that says your products will be available within 24 hours. In the meantime:

✅ Start with the Company-Level Questionnaire

You can begin by filling out the brief company-level questions.

Use the dropdowns to select the appropriate responses, then click Submit. Once submitted, you’ll see a green checkmark indicating it’s complete.

Step 2: Accessing and Reviewing Your Product List

Once your product list is loaded, you’ll see each product (usually your packaging materials or components) along with a status column.

At first, the product status will show as:

Not Started for all items
Carbon Footprint will be blank
Overall completion tracker at the top will show 0% products complete

To begin directly entering data, click into the first product listed.

Step 3: Entering Product Data

Once you click into a product, you’ll see a form with multiple sections to complete. You can begin entering the following:

Packaging materials and components
(e.g., type of plastic, paperboard, aluminum)
Material specifications
(e.g., weight, recycled content, certifications)
Energy use or production inputs
(if known — this is optional but helpful)
End-of-life information
(e.g., recyclable, compostable, landfill)

Additional packaging details
(like inner/outer packaging, secondary packaging, etc.)

When finished, click Save.

Your product footprint will be automatically generated in SupplierConnect.

A banner will appear reminding you to click Share Footprint. This is how you submit the product to your customer. Until you do this step, your customer won’t see the footprint.

Step 4: Submitting Your Footprints

Click the Share Footprint button after saving each product. This changes the status from “Saved” to “Submitted for Sharing.” Once shared, your customer can begin analyzing the data for sustainability insights.

You can share product footprints one at a time. There’s no need to wait until all are completed.

Option: Submitting LCAs or Emissions Data

If you already have an LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) or other emissions documentation for your packaging products, you can submit it directly:

Use the Submit Emissions Data button
You can attach one LCA to cover multiple related products

This is particularly helpful if your packaging components already have verified footprint data.

Getting Help

We've put together an article with answers to our most-frequently asked questions. You can access it here.

You can also log in and use the in-app chat, or request help from the HowGood team at [email protected].