To measure is to know: life-cycle analysis
What is a life-cycle analysis?
A life-cycle analysis (LCA) is a tool used to identify the environmental impact of a product. It makes the environmental footprint more transparent. Analysis begins as early as raw material extraction and ends at waste disposal. Along the way, this analysis also maps the impact of production, transportation and use.
We measure the impact of our products from raw material extraction to the moment it leaves our warehouse. At the beginning of our journey, we made an LCA of the yarns. We are now busy analysing the entire supply chain. We do this with help of our partner bAwear. We measure the impact to get a good idea of what we are actually saving and compare this to a so-called ‘virgin’ alternative. For example, we compare our recycled polyester fabric to a virgin polyester fabric, based on crude oil.
Life-cycle analysis: bumps we encountered
Quite a bit of knowledge is required for these complex processes. At the beginning of our journey, we had relatively little knowledge. We wanted to know about production processes and collaborations. It is important to ask the right questions to unearth the right information. Together with a partner, we are continuously gaining new insights and learning about our products. Along with bAwear, we now have a second partner that specialises in textiles for our life-cycle analyses. We now know much more about our products and are able to obtain detailed data. In addition, bAwear allows us to perform better checks on the data supplied.
We have discovered that all this requires a lot from us and our partners. Our partners are being asked to provide more and more information, and we are setting preconditions for this much more often. It is an intensive programme that requires a lot of explanation. Detailed information must be retrieved. This is very labour intensive for both us and our partner.
We have learned that transparency is important if you want to be sustainable. Showing what you do and how you do it is new and inconvenient for many companies. Good cooperation and trust are therefore very important.
Knowing the impact of our fabrics.