A new tool intended to raise awareness of the ecological impact of each purchase, this time textile, and to fight against fast fashion in particular. The clothing ecoscore will be rolled out this fall “voluntarily and supervised” in stores and on the Internet, the Ministry of Ecological Transition announced on Wednesday. A first step before, possibly, an obligation from 2025.
How does it look?
This display will take the form of a note “which can go from zero to infinity”. But be careful when calculating: this note will take into account “all the environmental costs of the life cycle of a garment” (greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, water consumption, etc.), weighted by the “durability” of the product, linked to its material, the possibility of repairing or maintaining it easily or even the incentive not to renew it too often, explained the ministry.
If my item of clothing is rated 2, is it good or bad?
It’s a good sign in any case. “The lower the rating, the less environmental impact the garment has and therefore the more virtuous it is,” the ministry said. The objective is to allow consumers “to compare clothes with each other in a simple way” and thus “make them more responsible for their purchases”. And try to take a step back from the price, which will no longer be “the only criterion of choice” available.
How will brands handle it?
A first tool, a calculation simulator intended for brands called “Ecobalysis”, is deployed from Wednesday to professionals for consultations, according to the ministry. Once possibly amended, the textile environmental display should be presented in May as part of a decree, before being put into service “in the fall of 2024” on a voluntary basis. Asked about the possibility of eventually making it compulsory, the ministry replied that “yes, it could become compulsory from 2025”.
The textile industry, really polluting?
Yes, and that shouldn’t get any better when we know that in France, 3.3 billion items of clothing, shoes and household linen were put on the market in 2022, compared to 2.8 in 2021. On average , each French person buys 48 new clothes each year and this is “ultra polluting”, recalled the ministry. In 2016, textile clothing production accounted for 8% of global greenhouse gases. The ministry estimates that “if we do nothing (…) within 20 years, this will represent 25% of emissions”.