Fibretrace launches raw fibre benchmarking tool

01 Feb '21

3 min read

Pic: Fibretrace

Technology company, Fibretrace, has released the Fibre Impact Module (FIM). It is an integrated benchmarking tool that collects and aggregates previously uncaptured impact data from farms including carbon emissions, water use, energy consumption, and other environmental performance data as shared by farmers and their agronomists and third-party verified.

Fibretrace was established in 2018 and provides brands with a solution for the highly coveted transparent textile supply chain by delivering the leading marker technology for traceability. The FIM is the next evolution for Fibretrace, combining traceability with impact measurement. The FIM uses the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol accounting standard as its backbone. It all starts with the individual farmer who is able to, with the FIM, demonstrate their commitment to environment excellence through farm-level impact such as water use, energy use, chemical use, and soil carbon content, according to Fibretrace.

A unique Fibretrace luminescent pigment is then applied to the raw fibre, which is traced and audited in real-time throughout the global textile supply chain. Allowing brands and consumers to not only trace their supply chain journey and verify fibre content, but to see the impact of the raw fibre from farm level, the company said in a media statement.

This is a global first, allowing brands and suppliers to accurately capture, verify and trace GHG emissions in raw materials - creating a pathway for the fashion and textile sector to reduce GHG emissions and help prevent the impact of climate change. Fibretrace has partnered with Climate Friendly, an Australian-based consultancy and pioneer of carbon farming to develop the FIM and to engage directly with farmers around the world about transitioning to a more climate positive future, according to the company.

The FIM methodology aims to be approved under the Gold Standard, delivering a high-level environmental integrity and verified sustainable development benefits. All impact data is third party verified by an internationally recognised certification body that verifies the integrity of the application of the methodologies, as well as the consistent application when assessments are carried out. The tool ensures full transparency for the global textile industry from raw fibre source, which sets the stage for continuous improvement overtime based on real and verified data, Fibretrace said.

The Fibre Impact Module (FIM) can be deployed today on cotton, Better Cotton, e3, organic cotton and in the near future will include other natural fibres including wool, linen, hemp, viscose, and leather. Fibretrace is available at leading suppliers around the world using natural, synthetic and post-consumer recycled fibres.

“The FIM changes the narrative for sustainable cotton going forward, as a farmer you are either carbon neutral, or positive or you are negative and that’s that. As farmers, we have invested a lot of time and energy into making our farm carbon positive and with Fibretrace and the FIM we are able to share that with the world,” Danielle Statham of Good Earth Cotton, the first carbon positive cotton farm in Australia said in a Fibretrace press release.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (GK)

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