Investigation: EU's sustainable fashion score is 'finalised' but far from reliable
On paper, an agreement has been reached on the first tool for scoring fashion products on sustainability. The regulation comes from Brussels and is called the Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR), hereafter referred to as 'PEF', for apparel and footwear. However, the method and the way it was developed are a source of considerable concern for many.
The PEFCR is a method based on a life cycle assessment (LCA), intended to calculate the environmental footprint of different product categories (the 'CR' in PEFCR), such as apparel and footwear. The idea is that such a uniform standard makes comparing products on sustainability performance fairer and cheaper. A PEF calculation produces a single number, a single score. For now, it is intended for internal use only, not for marketing claims or on the clothing label. The European Commission (EC) primarily wants brands to learn to identify their own sustainability challenges and take action on them. The PEF can help with this, for example, by using the tool to compare designs made from different fabrics. Additionally, the PEF is intended to support legislation, such as the ESPR (ecodesign).
Thirteen product categories have been devised for the fashion PEF. To keep things simple, these are quite broadly defined (blazers and raincoats are one category). An average product was created for each category. This was based on extensive data from global databases on production steps and their effects on nature, the environment, and the health of the wearer (not the worker). Real products are weighed against these models using a calculator, which will soon be offered by various consultancies. How sustainably a fashion brand's 'real' product scores, therefore, depends heavily on the assumptions behind that calculation model, for instance, the assumed number of wears or raw material usage.
The score is calculated based on sixteen environmental impacts (such as CO₂ emissions, water use, and land use). The European Commission has determined the weighting of each component. Climate impact carries the most weight (approximately 21 percent), water use accounts for 8.5 percent, and land use for 7.9 percent.]
An investigation by sustainable fashion journalists Sarah Vandoorne and Anna Roos van Wijngaarden, made possible by the Pascal Decroos Fund.
PEF is 'complete'
In the quiet before implementation, the question arises about the utility of a ranking system that is cheap and simple but yields no reliable conclusions. Karine Van Doorsselaer (University of Antwerp) warns: “I am very concerned about the value attached to LCA methodologies like the PEF. They are very rough estimates based on a staged scenario, generic data, and a thousand and one assumptions. These estimates do not account for ecodesign rules of thumb; principles of the circular economy; and technological evolutions such as the increased use of renewable energy. LCAs and the PEF are misleading companies and the government.”
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