New whitepaper published by Make The Label Count
PEF still needs a fair way to compare products made from natural and synthetic fibres, campaign says
The EU’s PEF initiative is designed to provide a common means of assessing and communicating the sustainability and environmental credentials of products (and organisations) within the single market. It is based on a set of 16 indicators that cover environmental impacts, resource use and toxicity (both human and ecological).
To derive a single PEF score, these impacts are normalised, weighted, then summed. With this scoring, the PEF system is designed to facilitate like-with-like comparisons.
But assessments of textiles made from natural and synthetic fibres are not yet comparable, says a new whitepaper released today by Make The Label Count.
Delivering EU Environmental Policy through Fair Comparisons of Natural and Synthetic Textile Fibres in PEF addresses the concerns with the current PEF methodology, identifies the main challenges posed and provides recommendations to not only offer more meaningful guidance to the EU consumer but also assist in delivering the EU’s environmental policy and sustainability objectives.
The global supply of textiles has been recognized by the EU as a major source of emissions and resource use. In particular, the sector has become increasingly reliant on fossil feedstocks to supply synthetic fibres. The textile industry has also been roundly criticised for unsustainable and noncircular consumption patterns.
The whitepaper presents pragmatic recommendations to better align the methodology with the EU’s Green Deal and circular economy objectives.