From zero to infinity. The environmental score used for every clothing item in France will not be a 10-point score or a scale from A to E, like the one for food products. Instead, it will be a number assessing its environmental cost adjusted by a sustainability rating, as the office of Minister of Environmental Transition Christophe Béchu announced on Wednesday, April 3.
"It's going to be very simple," his advisers unpersuasively assured when announcing the organization of a consultation with the textile and clothing industry to test an online calculation tool dubbed "Ecobalyse." Led by the Ministry of Environmental Transition, this consultation will bring together "around 60 players" from industry and commerce, their employers' representatives and consumer and environmental NGOs. They will prepare the drafting of a decree for May. This label could become mandatory by 2025.
This text has been awaited since the passing of the Climate and Resilience Act in 2021. Eleven methods for calculating a garment's environmental footprint have since been tried out, but the government has yet to reach a final decision.
A 'sustainability rating'
Despite the issue's complexity, time is now of the essence. On March 14, a bill backed by Béchu was passed by the Assemblée Nationale to curb "fast fashion" in France by introducing a bonus-penalty system; it is due to be put on the Sénat's agenda under a fast-track procedure. Yet the penalties it introduces that would increase the price of clothing with a high environmental impact will be indexed to this score. The government is therefore rushing to decide on its approach. It also declared that it would be compatible with the European Commission's adoption of the "Product Environmental Footprint" (PEF) method.
The environmental cost of an item would be calculated throughout its "life cycle," from manufacture to recycling after use. The government said this calculation is based on the environmental cost elements established by Brussels, each of which defines areas of impact affecting the climate, degrading biodiversity and straining natural resources, especially water.
The government added three additional impacts: the use of chemicals, the release of microfibers and "the export of garments abroad after use," in other words, the fate of discarded clothing items that are often shipped out of France.
This score will then be adjusted by a "sustainability rating" defined by five criteria: the number of items sold; the labeling of the manufacturing stages' traceability; the garments' average commercial life; "the incentive to repair" provided by the manufacturer or retailer; and, even, the attachment and care given to the product by the consumer.
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