Sustainable tech platform Glimpact has launched the Global Impact Score tool in North America, which will enable firms to assess and reduce the environmental footprint of fashion products.
The free-to-use tool is powered by the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) methodological framework, and offers a full life cycle assessment of apparel across 16 environmental indicators, including water use, land use, carbon emissions, and eco-toxicity.
Regulatory environment
The tool has also been developed to ensure that fashion brands can prepare for a changing regulatory environment in Europe, most notably under the EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation (ESPR), which came into force in July 2024.
The ESPR has been developed to ‘significantly improve’ the sustainability of products placed on the EU market, by improving their circularity, energy performance, recyclability and durability.
Empowering brands
“The environmental crisis is not just about climate, it’s systemic and must take into account all components of the ecological crisis,” commented Christophe Girardier, founder and CEO of Glimpact. “Our new Global Impact Score tool makes the scientific methodological framework adopted by the European Union accessible to all fashion stakeholders.
“This empowers brands to prepare for and comply with the requirements of the ESPR, which will make it mandatory to declare the environmental performance of each product and comply with eco-design requirements.”
A recent study by Glimpact used the tool to analyse products from brands such as Patagonia, Reformation, H&M, Alo Yoga, and Ralph Lauren, which revealed broader insights into the real and unsuspected challenges of the ecological transition for the fashion industry.
According to Glimpact, the launch of the tool comes at a pivotal moment for the fashion sector, as it faces increased scrutiny over its sustainability claims and prepares for a stricter regulatory environment.
“It is time for the fashion industry to embrace a new era – placing eco-design at the heart of development models and not at a purely marketing and opportunistic level,” Girardier added. Read more here.
