Momentum grows for counting fabric origin among sustainability costs
25/01/2023
The document is the fourth to come from a collaboration between consultant and former World Bank economist Veronica Bates-Kassatly and Geneva Center for Business and Human Rights director, Dr Dorothée Baumann-Pauly, who last teamed up on The Great Green Washing Machine two-part report for advocacy group Eco-Age.
In examining industry media outlet The Business of Fashion (BoF)'s annual benchmark, The BoF Sustainability Index, the co-authors aim to show how “the prevailing system falls decidedly short”, both in regard to what the sector itself defines as sustainable and how it attempt to measure this, they say.
Key takeaways from the report include the assertion that switching fibres to “preferred” or “certified” materials does not equal real-world sustainability, in addition to the argument that there should be financial incentives for brands to declare where their fabrics and other components were manufactured, due to the variable carbon intensity of different countries’ energy systems at this “most [environmentally] important” stage in production.
France’s anti-waste and circular economy law, known as AGEC, already requires that fashion producers and importers with annual revenue in excess of €50 million (around $54 million), or production volume of more than 10,000 units, must communicate either where knitting, weaving, dyeing or assembly took place for clothing, or the country in which the stitching, lasting and finishing processes were completed for shoes. These changes took effect on January 1 and will progressively apply to companies with a smaller turnover.
Download the paper to learn more about the authors’ findings and recommendations here.
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