#Sustainability

2021-10-07

Sustainability labels must be accurate and complete if they are to drive green goals

Mandatory sustainability labelling for clothing and footwear is on the table as part of the European Union’s shift to a climate neutral and circular economy. But problems with how sustainability is measured risk a loss of credibility with consumers.

Inspired by successful examples in other sectors, the EU’s intent is to offer consumers information about the green credentials of clothes and shoes at point of purchase. This would in turn encourage brands and retailers to offer products that are designed to be more energy-efficient, durable, reusable, repairable and recyclable.

Currently, however, the way sustainability is counted makes it impossible for natural fibres to receive a positive score.

Make the Label Count

“A credible sustainability label has the potential to make the industry greener and empower EU consumers to make informed choices,” says Dalena White, Secretary General of the International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO) and Co-Spokesperson for Make the Label Count campaign, along with Livia Firth of Eco-Age.

“We are very excited that the textile industry will be regulated in the near future and that proposed legislation will assist concerned consumers to make responsible decisions.

“EU policy makers have a crucial role to play in ensuring that labelling is supported by a system that presents a level playing field for all fibres by considering the full impacts of each garment’s life cycle.”

Where We Need to Measure Up

As it stands today, sustainability labelling does not account for crucial environmental impacts that sit at the forefront of EU policy:

The adverse effects of microplastic pollution, a known side effect of wearing and washing synthetic clothing, is absent from the scoring.

While all garments shed microfibres through laundering and daily wear, only synthetic garments made from fossil fuels discharge microplastic fibres. Microplastic pollution contaminates both terrestrial and marine environments and has entered the food chain. Scientific studies have shown that one typical 5-kilogram wash of fossil fuel-based garments can release as many as 6 million microplastic fibres.

The full environmental cost of fossil fuels is omitted from the scoring.

Accounting for synthetic fibres commences at extraction at the well-head, rather than the raw material formation. This leaves out all the impacts from the formation of the base material of synthetic fibres, crude oil. These impacts include greenhouse gas emissions, land use and water use.

Conversely, accounting for natural fibres begins with their formation on the farm, and all of those impacts are included in the scoring.

At a time when many industries are recognizing the impacts of and moving away from fossil fuels, the full environmental impacts of the formation of crude oil must be accounted for in this context.

Read more on POLITICO Europe: A question of credibility — the EU’s green transition for textiles

https://www.politico.eu/sponsored-content/a-question-of-credibility-the-eu-green-transition-for-textiles/

Circular and Social

True sustainability means products are made from renewable raw materials.

The circular attributes of natural fibres, such as renewability at the start-of-life, high levels of reuse and recycling during life, and biodegradability at end-of-life are not counted or only minimally counted in the current system of scoring.

Another obvious omission is the consideration of social impacts throughout the supply chain.

Make the Label Count – Campaign Launch

The Make the Label Count Campaign brings together an international coalition of organisations in an appeal for credibility in sustainability labelling for clothing. Learn more at http://www.makethelabelcount.org

https://eu-ems.com/register.asp?event_id=4638

Merino wool moves into China’s high-performance sportswear market

China’s leading sportswear brands are beginning to treat Merino wool not as a lifestyle material, but as a performance input as natural fibres move from the margins of sportswear into elite technical applications. That shift is increasingly evident in the material strategies of major domestic groups such as ANTA.

Textile Exchange publishes cotton Life Cycle Assessment study to strengthen impact data

Textile Exchange has published the first in a series of seven Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies designed to improve the quality and robustness of environmental impact data for raw material production across the fashion, textile, and apparel industry. The first LCA study focuses on cotton and addresses critical data gaps and methodology variability through new high-quality data across key producing countries. The study includes organic, regenerative, recycled, and country averages for conventional cotton production systems, providing a clearer picture of the associated environmental impact.

Experts publish APAC policy priorities

Cascale today announced the publication of its APAC Policy Priorities Paper, developed by the Asia-Pacific (APAC) Policy Member Expert Team (MET) to identify key regional sustainability challenges and provide practical, aligned recommendations for policymakers and industry stakeholders across Asia-Pacific.

GOTS version 8.0 released: advanced supply chain accountability, from fibre to finished product

Global Standard is pleased to announce the release of GOTS Version 8.0, the latest update to the world's leading processing standard for organic textiles. The updated Standard strengthens requirements for air emissions and waste management, as well as criteria for product safety. It introduces new provisions on circularity, microfibre management and updates in residue testing. Version 8.0 also elevates due diligence obligations and formalises governance requirements, including ESG disclosure, anti-corruption policies and conflict-of-interest safeguards, to support credible, responsible business conduct.

VANDEWIELE Group at Techtextil 2026 – Textile innovations together

The VANDEWIELEGroup will showcase its latest technologies for technical textiles at Techtextil 2026 in Frankfurt from April 21–24 (Hall 12.0, Stand C21). As a global leader in textile machinery, the group brings together specialised brands to support the evolving demands of high-performance textile applications. Visitors will discover solutions in laboratory testing, yarn joining, yarn feeding and thread tension monitoring, designed to create measurable value across the textile value chain.