Ecobalyse, this future ecoscore which will display the environmental impact of clothing from 2025

After food, clothes will also have their ecoscore. This display, intended to raise awareness of the ecological impact of purchases, will, after several delays, be put on track this week with the presentation of a first calculation simulator.

Called “Ecobalyse”, this tool developed in partnership with Ademe “will allow companies and professionals in the sector to easily and free of charge obtain the environmental cost of their product, but also allow citizens to consult the environmental impacts of the clothing they buy », Indicates the government in a press release.

The calculation method and launch schedule for this textile ecoscore should be specified on Wednesday by the government. A French initiative, this new labeling is intended to “enrich” the European harmonized environmental labeling project for textiles with the aim of helping companies in member countries to calculate it.

In France, 3.3 billion items of clothing, shoes and household linen were placed on the market in 2022, compared to 2.8 in 2021. Professionals, NGOs and civil society are calling for regulation of the sector. In 2023, the Ministry of Ecological Transition indicated on its website that the textile industry generated “more greenhouse gases than international flights and maritime traffic combined, and consumed 4% of drinking water of the world". In 2050, it will represent 26% of greenhouse gases, if consumption and production trends remain similar.

Also readEnvironment: what will the future “eco-score” for clothing look like?

This “clothing planet-score” will materialize in the form of a point display. These will be awarded based on different criteria: water consumption, physical durability of textiles, use of pesticides and chemicals, microplastic releases and the impact of fast fashion (volumes and rotation of collections ).

The whole question will be to know which criterion(s) will prevail in the calculation method. From an environmental point of view, which of an acrylic T-shirt (derived from petroleum) produced in China or a wool sweater made in France while consuming a lot of water will obtain the best score? Professionals in the sector appear to be divided, and even before its implementation, environmental labeling is already causing debate. After several experiments in 2022, it was originally supposed to be mandatory this year. It should ultimately only be “voluntary” and truly implemented at best in the first half of 2025.