History of the Mass Balance On-Product Mark
When you see our logo being used in marketing and communications, it means you’re buying from or working with a committed Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) Member who is investing in BCI through our Mass Balance Chain of Custody. Although not physically traceable, the mass balance system uses volume tracking to ensure that retailers and brands are helping to make our programme scale and bring value to farmers.
The Mass Balance On-Product Mark is a way of showing that a retailer and brand is investing in more sustainable farming practices.
One way that retailers and brands show their support for better farming practices is by making a public commitment to source a percentage of their cotton as more sustainable cotton.
On top of that, for every metric tonne they source, they pay a fee. This, along with the support of other public and private donors, has helped raise over €200 million to date. That’s enabled us to train millions of individuals working in cotton farming in over the past 15 years.
Who can use our logo?
Only BCI Retailer and Brand Members can use the On-Product Mark
This means initially sourcing at least 10% of their cotton as BCI Cotton, with a plan to increase this to at least 50% BCI Cotton within five years.
We provide detailed guidance and support to help Retailers and Brands make sure that when they use our logo reflects their engagement with the programme and is transparent and credible.
How it works
It’s important to know that our logo can currently only be found on products sourced through the Mass Balance Chain of Custody which is a widely used volume-tracking system. This means that when you see the BCI logo on a product, it doesn’t mean the product is made of Traceable (also known as Physical) BCI Cotton.
Mass Balance allows BCI Cotton to be substituted or mixed with conventional cotton as long as equivalent volumes are sourced as BCI Cotton.
Most importantly, no matter where the cotton from BCI Farmers ends up, they will still receive ongoing support and training.
Why we use this system
The Mass Balance system is less complicated and less costly to set up and run. Using it means that we can reach many more farmers, more quickly.
Mass Balance has and will continue to have an important role to play in achieving scale in sustainability for companies and farmers across the globe – not just in cotton, but other commodities as well.
Real change, at scale, is made possible by Mass Balance.
Learn more about Mass Balance
History of the On-Product Mark
In 2021, we launched a brand-new version of the On-Product Mark, one designed to emphasise the pivotal importance of BCI Cotton for retailers and brands in the sustainable future that lies ahead.
