How to Become a Certified B Corporation | TemperPack

TemperPack recently achieved B Corp certification after a rigorous, five months-long evaluation. Here's a firsthand account of what the process involves and why it matters for companies serious about sustainability.

What Is B Corp Certification?

B Corp certification is an independent designation awarded by the nonprofit B Lab to companies that meet verified standards for social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.

Unlike self-reported sustainability claims or single-issue certifications, B Corp certification evaluates how a company operates across its entire business — from governance and employee programs to environmental practices and community impact. It is one of the most comprehensive third-party sustainability assessments available to private companies.

Joining the B Corp community means becoming part of a global movement of businesses that share a belief in using commerce as a force for good — proof that profit and purpose aren't mutually exclusive. Since the movement's founding in 2006, that community has grown to more than 10,836 certified companies across 100+ countries.

What Does the B Corp Certification Process Involve?

Companies are evaluated through the B Impact Assessment (BIA), a comprehensive framework covering five performance categories:

1. Governance — accountability structures, transparency, and mission alignment
2. Workers — compensation, benefits, training, and workplace culture
3. Community — supplier diversity, charitable giving, and local economic impact
4. Environment — resource management, emissions, and supply chain practices
5. Customers — product quality, data privacy, and the social/environmental impact of the product itself

To qualify for certification, companies must:

1. Complete the full B Impact Assessment
2. Provide supporting documentation for scored responses
3. Pass an independent verification process conducted by B Lab staff
4. Achieve a minimum score of 80 out of 200 points
5. Implement a legal mechanism protecting the company’s commitment to B Corp values. For TemperPack, we became a public benefit corporation.  

For context, the average company scores approximately 50 on the assessment. The 80-point threshold is designed to be achievable, but only through genuine operational practices and embedded processes, not just stated intentions.

How Long Does B Corp Certification Take?

The timeline varies by company size and complexity, but most organizations should plan for a minimum of several months from initial assessment to certified status.

For TemperPack, the process required deep collaboration across multiple teams including environmental reporting, manufacturing operations, human resources, and leadership. Much of the five months was spent not on the assessment itself, but on gathering documentation, validating data, and verifying that existing practices are formally captured.

This is worth planning for. The B Impact Assessment will surface gaps between what a company does and what it can prove it does.

Why Did TemperPack Pursue B Corp Certification?

Since our founding, TemperPack has focused on solving complex packaging challenges through science-driven innovation. Our mission has always been to deliver packaging that performs without compromising the future. Customers shouldn't have to choose between thermal performance and sustainability.

Several factors made pursuing B Corp certification a natural next step:

The limits of self-reporting. Sustainability commitments are easy to make. Measurable and independently verified outcomes are what sophisticated buyers, investors, and regulators are asking for. B Corp certification provided a framework for demonstrating that our sustainability practices are backed by data and documentation and not just marketing language.

Continuous improvement, not a credential. We weren't pursuing certification as a one-time achievement. The B Impact Assessment is designed to surface opportunities for improvement and to set a benchmark that companies are required to meet again at recertification. That ongoing accountability aligns with how we approach sustainability internally.

Growing regulatory pressure. Becoming a B Corp formalizes our commitment to sustainability by fundamentally changing our legal structure to that of a public benefit corporation. As environmental regulations tighten, third-party verification reassures customers that our commitment is real — not just a marketing claim. In an increasingly regulated environment, that kind of credibility is a business necessity, not just a differentiator.

"What makes B Corp certification meaningful is that it goes beyond what a company says. It evaluates how a company operates, measures its impact, and challenges it to continuously improve." - Liz Helm, Director of Sustainability, TemperPack

‍What Are the Most Valuable Outcomes of B Corp Certification?

1. It forces documentation of informal practices. Many companies operate with strong values that aren't formally captured. The certification process requires companies to document governance structures, employee policies, and environmental data in ways that create lasting organizational clarity regardless of certification status.
2. It creates measurable benchmarks. Before certification, many sustainability efforts exist as commitments. After, they exist as baselines. The B Impact Assessment gives companies a framework for tracking progress across multiple dimensions over time.
3. It provides credible third-party validation. In an era of widespread greenwashing, independent verification is increasingly valuable. B Corp certification is recognized by buyers, investors, and policymakers as a rigorous standard not a self-awarded badge.
4. It identifies where to improve. The assessment is designed to challenge companies to raise their standards. Scoring well is meaningful precisely because there is always more to do.

What Does B Corp Certification Mean for TemperPack Customers?

For brands and manufacturers choosing cold chain and protective packaging partners, TemperPack's B Corp certification means:

• Our sustainability claims have been independently verified by a third party.
• We mean it when we say we’re committed to being a partner in sustainability. It’s not just in our products, but in how we operate.
• We are accountable to recertification standards. This isn't a one-time designation.
• We are accountable to recertification standards. This isn't a one-time designation.
• We are positioned to support customers navigating EPR compliance, sustainability reporting, and supply chain due diligence.

“The best packaging solution and the most sustainable one should be the same thing; that's the standard we hold ourselves to. B Corp Certification reflects how deeply that commitment runs, from the materials we engineer to the relationships we build. We're proud to join a global community of companies proving that performance, value, and purpose don't just coexist; they compound.” - Peter Wells, Chief Executive Officer, TemperPack

B Corp certification is verification that our mission is measurable and that we're holding ourselves accountable to it. We look forward to raising the bar even higher during our 2029 recertification as B Lab's standards continue to evolve.

Explore our sustainability commitments

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