The French Parliament recently approved a climate bill that will introduce mandatory ‘carbon labels’ for goods and services, including clothing and textiles. The wider motive is to inform consumers about the environmental impact of their purchasing decisions. France banned brands from destroying leftover stock under an ‘anti-waste’ law last year.

The legislation follows devastating floods that ripped through parts of Europe, submerging towns, killing nearly 200 and intensifying concerns over the effects of global warming.

In 2018, the French Agency for Environment and Energy Management (ADEME) rolled out a labeling system that grades garments from A to E, with A being the most sustainable and E the least. According to a timeline from the ministry of ecological transition, a similar scheme is poised to become mandatory by 2023, according to European media reports.

The country has a decade-old Extended Producer Responsibility Law, under which businesses are required to provide or manage the recycling of their clothing, textiles and footwear products at the end of their lives.

Around 624,000 metric tonnes of textiles—equivalent to 2.6 billion pieces of clothing, household linens and shoes—are placed on the market in France every year, ADEME estimates.

French shoemaker Veja reportedly has so far tallied the carbon burdens of some of its popular styles, ranging from 5.63 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent for the Nova High Canvas to 21.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent for the Esplar Leather.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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