Industries
Textile carbon footprint from fibre to garment.
The footprint of a garment is calculated from the fibre, the spinning, weaving, dyeing and making-up processes (including their energy) and transport. Xain derives it from technical documentation and can issue the certificate per reference, colour or destination. The calculation adapts to the available data.
Hotspots
What weighs most in a garment's footprint?
The fibre and the wet processes usually concentrate much of the footprint. Then come making-up, packaging and transport, which varies widely by destination.
The fibre
Producing the fibre, spinning and weaving.
Dyeing and finishing
Wet processes that use energy and hot water.
Making-up and packaging
Cutting, sewing, labels and packaging.
Transport and destination
The shipping route changes the result for the same garment.
In textiles, the footprint request comes from brands and distributors reporting their Scope 3, from workwear tenders and from product rules under development. Whoever makes up garments or weaves fabric needs a figure per reference. Nextil works with Xain.
Case: Nextil polo (−76 %)
A polo with an ISO 14067 certificate, made at Nextil’s Guatemala plant, shows −76 % versus a conventional polo. It is a concrete case, not a general rule: the figure depends on the fibre, processes and energy of that plant versus the conventional reference used in the certificate.
Why do reference, colour and destination matter?
Two garments of the same model can differ in dyeing, fabric supplier or shipping route. A certificate per reference, colour or destination avoids giving an average that describes neither. That is the logic of the per-shipment certificate solution.
How does the calculation adapt to the data?
If there is no manufacturing detail, average physical factors in line with ISO 14067 are used. If process data are available (composition, energy origin, plant consumption), they are incorporated and the result is more precise.
Which regulation is moving?
The digital product passport foresees information requirements for textile products once the relevant delegated acts are adopted. It is a reason to keep each reference’s data in order, not an obligation to calculate a specific footprint today.
What documentation is needed?
The garment or fabric technical sheet, fibre composition, weight, processes and the location of each stage, and inbound transport. If you work with a fabric supplier, their primary data improves the result.
Frequently asked questions
What companies usually ask before getting started.
What is the difference between a cotton and a polyester garment?
The fibre, its production process and the energy it needs all change. That is why the calculation starts from the garment's real material and not from a sector average.
Can the same reference have two footprints?
Yes. Colour, the dyeing process or the shipping destination can change the result. That is why the certificate can be issued per colour and per destination.
What if I do not have manufacturing detail?
Xain adapts the calculation to the available data: without detail it uses average physical factors in line with ISO 14067; if you provide process data, it incorporates them and the result is more precise.
Keep reading
Per-shipment certificate
Get the carbon footprint by reference, SKU, colour, destination or shipment. Every Xain certificate has a unique registration number and node traceability.
Product footprint
Certify your product’s carbon footprint with an ISO 14067 method verified by LRQA, from your technical documentation, with registration and traceability.
Digital product passport (DPP)
The digital product passport (DPP) is the set of structured data about a product, accessible by electronic means, foreseen by the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (EU) 2024/1781.
Tell us what you want to measure
One product, a catalogue or your purchases. We reply with the next steps.
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