In May 2020, a full cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment for a Merino wool jumper was published, the first such assessment for a textile fibre to be published in a peer-reviewed journal. It was closely followed by a further four publications on garment lifetime assessment and best-practice garment use, which are leading global research and underpinning the knowledge base used to influence life cycle assessment of textiles. This research, funded by Australian Wool Innovation (AWI), is part of a detailed strategy to ensure that the European Union embeds robust science in its Product Environmental Footprinting (PEF) project.
The PEF project is expected to soon become the most influential market-facing reporting system for environmental credentials. Within a couple of years, a product for sale in the EU could be required to include a label that provides consumers with the EU’s assessment of the product’s environmental credentials, which is both a risk and an opportunity for wool.
AWI’s continued funding of research into wool’s environmental benefits underpins the ongoing marketing of Australian wool, and aims to help ensure that the EU develops an accurate and positive rating for products that contain wool. The aim is for Australian wool to be seen as the ‘planet-friendly’ fibre of choice, and for the Australian wool industry to be seen as a forward-looking one that is carefully stewarding the environment.
Wool is natural, renewable and biodegradable, and therefore well placed to take advantage of the increasing consumer demand for more earth-friendly products. However, with environmental ratings agencies focusing only on negative impacts, they don’t yet account for factors such as being naturally made, renewable and biodegradable in their ratings tools, so they have historically rated wool poorly against synthetic fibres.
A life cycle assessment is a popular and effective method of assessing harmful environmental impacts across an entire supply chain, from raw material production; through processing, manufacturing and distribution; to a product’s use, repair and recycling; and finally to the product’s end-of-life and disposal. All of these phases in a product’s supply chain affect the environment in some way. However, a weakness in life cycle assessment methodology is that it does not assess a product’s sustainability – only products made from renewable raw materials can be sustainable.
AWI funded the development of a life cycle assessment for a Merino jumper and subsequent research because, until recently, such assessments have only looked at the production part of the supply chain (where natural fibres such as wool and cotton are scored poorly), not at the whole supply chain. This ground-breaking study, the culmination of 10 years of research across all life stages, demonstrates that consideration of the length of time a garment stays in active use is critical in life cycle assessment.
The wool industry has a seat at the table at key technical forums in the EU, and is working to ensure that the environmental footprint of a garment is correctly assessed – using robust science – at all stages of the garment’s life.