Silk organza less durable than polyester? A cashmere wool sweater less virtuous than a T-shirt? Clothing manufacturers and distributors are concerned about the implementation of environmental labeling of their clothing in the 1er January 2024. Although this system has been planned since 2020 and made mandatory by the Climate and Resilience Law adopted in 2021, the government is still working on the criteria and their thresholds for assessing the environmental impact of clothing.
The round table organized around Bérangère Couillard, Secretary of State for Ecology, Tuesday July 11, in Paris, demonstrated this. “It’s not going to be easy”recognizes Guillaume Declair, co-founder of the Loom brand and spokesperson for the En mode climat movement, which works to change the laws, so that fashion can reduce its CO2 emissions.2.
The government intends to encourage consumers to wear their choices on clothing “sustainable”, since “the textile industry is one of the sectors that has the most impact”, reminded M.me Couillard. “The whole challenge is to create a real note, of the ABCD type, of a garment and to give the consumer more information on its production for an informed choice”, explains Laure Betsch, co-founder of Fairly Made, a product’s environmental impact calculator.
“Fight with determination the fast-fashion model”
Matignon has, for the time being, decided on eight evaluation criteria specific to defining an “eco-score” that manufacturers and distributors will have to publish on their site: the water consumption required for the production of a garment, its physical durability, its manufacturing conditions, the use of pesticides or chemical products during its manufacture, the potential for rejection of microplastics, the recovery of recycled materials or that of reconditioned textiles and, finally, the impact of ” fast fashion”.
This last criterion was adopted to respond to those who are worried about the rise of Shein, the Chinese clothing site, which, in France as elsewhere, dumps millions of pieces made of synthetic materials, at low prices. , in China, under questionable working conditions.
According to Mme Couillard, “We must fight this model of fast-fashion with determination” because he “destroy the planet” and “the textile industry may not recover”. But what parameters should be adopted to calculate this criterion? Should we calculate the number of references put on the market and thus fight the brands that launch too many new products and encourage too much to buy? Should we quantify the number of price discounts that lead to this overconsumption? How, too, to integrate the social criteria specific to the working conditions of those who made a T-shirt or pants?
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