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Measuring impact with Waro is part of the environmental display initiative. The main aim of environmental labelling is to inform consumers about the environmental performance of the products they buy.
Environmental labelling has been an initiative of the French Ministry of Energy Transition and ADEME (Agence de la Transition Écologique) for several years, and of the European Commission in Europe.
In France, environmental labelling has been developed and implemented gradually, mainly through two pieces of legislation:
the AGEC law (Anti-waste and circular economy)
the Climate and Resilience Act
Article 13 of the AGEC law lays the foundations for environmental labelling. It is now compulsory to display environmental information for textiles, furniture and other products:
Article 2 of the French Climate Act supplements this information by adding an environmental score that must take into account the entire life cycle of these products:
At European level, environmental labelling is not yet compulsory. However, as part of the Green Deal, the Circular Economy Package (2022) seeks to meet two major objectives:
It is therefore highly likely that regulations will evolve over the next few years at European level.
In this context, the European Commission has developed the PEF (Product Environmental Footprint) method, also based on life-cycle analysis, to harmonize environmental impact measurement methods across member states.
The commission recommends the use of PEF to any member state that makes environmental labelling mandatory, which is why France relies heavily on the PEF method in its methodological work.
Pending finalization of regulatory methodologies (see below for timetable), Waro relies on the most complete and up-to-date methodologies available.
For textiles, Waro relies on PEFCR Apparel & Footwear v1.3, while following developments on Ecobalyse (a government tool for testing and developing French methodology).
For furniture, Waro relies on the Référentiel méthodologique d'évaluation environnementale de meubles meublants (BP X 30-323-04) developed by ADEME with FCBA.
For the impact factors used, Waro relies on the Impacts Base developed by ADEME, as well as the Ecoinvent base, an international benchmark for LCA, to fill in the gaps left by the former.
Finally, Waro participates in various working groups to monitor progress and share its feedback and that of its customers to improve these methodologies.
Waro can provide 2 types of impact results:
For consumers, environmental labelling will take the form of a grade (e.g. A, B, C, D or E) displayed directly on product labels or on companies' e-commerce sites.
The final format of this score is still under discussion within the working group. It will be based in particular on the environmental impacts of the product calculated using life-cycle analysis (CO2 emissions, impact on water pollution, etc.), and should take into account the following criteria for textiles:
Here are some examples of prototypes for the communication format proposed during the course of the work:
An environmental impact indicator measures a change in the environment generated by a product over its entire life cycle. There are 4 families of impact indicators:
Find out more about these indicators in our article.
In France, the General Secretariat for Ecological Planning defines the roll-out plan for environmental labelling. Textiles and furniture are among the priority sectors.
Key dates for the fashion and apparel sector :
Key dates for the furniture sector :
Life cycle analysis is at the heart of French methodological work and the PEF method.
Life cycle assessment, or LCA, is the reference methodology for evaluating the environmental impact of a product over its entire life cycle.
It is now recognized as the most advanced and scientifically robust methodology for implementing an environmental display approach.
To find out more about LCA, read our article here.
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