Make the Label Count is an international coalition of organisations representing a wide range of natural fibre producers and environmental groups, who are all working to ensure that sustainability claims for textiles in the EU are fair and credible. The Bremen Cotton Exchange joined MTLC in 2022.
Its aim is to empower EU consumers to make informed choices about the clothes they wear. In view of the current development processes in the European Union on regulations for the textile industry, among others, MTLC has identified a significant problem that could have disastrous consequences for the natural fibres industry.
Need for additional indicators in the PEF methodology
In its efforts to promote a circular economy and protect European consumers, the EU has developed the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method – a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology first proposed by the European Commission in 2013 – designed to measure a product’s environmental impact. The PEF methodology is intended to be applied to category rules for apparel and footwear (PEFCR) to assess the specific environmental impacts of textile products.
However, the PEF method omits crucial product impacts that would be essential when assessing the environmental behaviour of textiles. To make the PEF fit for purpose and ensure it helps deliver the EU’s sustainability and circularity ambitions, three key indicators must be included: microplastic release, plastic waste, and circularity. Until these indicators are adequately covered in the methodology, the PEF should not be recommended for use to substantiate environmental claims under the Green Claims Directive, according to the MTLC initiative.
EU response to the risk of natural fibre discrimination
By ignoring these key indicators, the PEF methodology favours synthetic garments made from fossil fuels and promotes fast fashion. If natural fibres are disadvantaged due to the bias of the current PEF methodology, fashion brands will be less interested in using natural fibres, effectively driving them out of the market and leaving consumers with fewer and less sustainable choices. This could result in an unfair trade barrier to natural fibres and have a detrimental impact on farmers and natural fibres producers in Europe and globally.
The European Commission understood this and did not recommend the use of the PEF in its proposal for the Green Claims Directive. The European Parliament endorsed this position and furthermore recognized the limitations of the PEF as it does not take into account important impacts such as microplastic pollution. Unfortunately, the European
Council does not share this approach. There is a risk that the final text of the Directive will undermine the objective of providing EU consumers with reliable, comparable and accurate information on the environmental impact of products.
Find out more about Make the Label Count here.
For further information or enquiries on the matter, contact Elke Hortmeyer, MTLC co-spokesperson:
