bAwear Score calculates the environmental impact of textile products with a streamlined life cycle assessment in the structure of ISO 14040 and ISO 14044, using the ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (Hierarchist) impact assessment method. This page states the method in full: what is calculated, how, from which data, with which boundaries and units, what is excluded and why, and what the verification status of each tier is. Every result produced by the platform carries this scope.

1. Standard framework

bAwear Score applies the four phases of ISO 14040/14044.

2. Impact assessment method

ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (Hierarchist). ReCiPe 2016 was developed by RIVM, Radboud University, Leiden University and PRé Sustainability. The midpoint level reports impact at the point in the cause-effect chain where the environmental mechanism is well understood, with lower uncertainty than endpoint indicators. The Hierarchist perspective uses consensus time horizons (for example 100 years for global warming). No other characterisation method is used. The method is named with every result.

Preparation for the EU Environmental Footprint method. The Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR) for apparel and footwear are under development and not formalised. bAwear Score is built in the direction of that framework. When the PEFCR is formalised, bAwear intends to move to the EF method as required. No tool, including bAwear Score, can claim PEFCR compliance today.

3. Impact categories reported

These four categories are reported because they are robust with current textile data availability and because they cover the main environmental mechanisms of textile production: energy, water and land.

4. Categories excluded by design

Chemical and human toxicity indicators are not reported. ReCiPe 2016 contains toxicity categories. bAwear Score does not report them, for a methodological reason, not because they are unimportant. Toxicity characterisation requires known chemical structures, quantities and the reaction products formed during processing. In textile wet processing, formulations are frequently undisclosed, safety data sheets are often incomplete, and transformation products are not characterised. A toxicity result built on this data can be wrong by an order of magnitude and would be misleading in reporting. bAwear considers such an output unreliable and does not publish it. When the PEFCR and its data requirements are in place, bAwear intends to include toxicity indicators under the EF method. Read more: The chemical impact dilemma →

5. System boundaries

Two boundaries are available and selectable per calculation.

Results are shown per supply chain step inside the selected boundary. The boundary is stated with every result. Results from different boundaries are not comparable.

6. Functional units

The functional unit is stated with every result. Comparisons are valid only within the same functional unit, boundary, method and set of impact categories.

7. Data sources and data quality

Secondary data. Ecoinvent version 3.12, and bAwear's proprietary database of curated textile secondary data, built on more than 40 years of textile industry experience. This includes a generic textile module developed in collaboration with PRé Sustainability. Datasets are selected and reviewed for textile production chains, not adapted from generic industrial averages.

Default scenarios. More than 200 predefined product scenarios across 18 or more textile product categories. Each scenario models the process chain with worst-case default values. Worst-case defaults are used so that a result cannot understate impact when data is missing; every primary value added can only move the result towards the actual product.

Primary data. Client-supplied data overwrites defaults at process level. Primary data stays confidential. It is never shared and never used in another client's assessment. The result shows which values are primary and which are default.

Data quality principle. The reliability of a streamlined LCA depends on scope, data quality and appropriateness of use. Every result states these so the user can judge fitness for purpose.

8. The two tiers and their verification status

bAwear Score does not certify or verify results. It prepares data for independent third-party review.

9. Standards and regulatory framing

bAwear Score is applied in line with ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006. It is built in the direction of the EU textile regulatory framework: the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (Reg. EU 2024/1781), the Digital Product Passport (textile delegated act expected Q4 2027, then 18 months to implement), the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (Dir. EU 2022/2464) and the PEFCR for apparel and footwear (under development). Direction is not compliance; bAwear Score makes no compliance claim against an instrument that is not formalised.

10. Software basis and methodology ownership

bAwear Score is powered by SimaPro. The methodology is owned and maintained by Anton Luiken, Co-founder and Senior Textile Expert, with the bAwear team of LCA and textile experts. Changes to method, impact categories, data sources or default scenarios are documented and dated on this page.

11. Disclaimer

Quick Score results are indicative and intended for internal decision support and reference product comparison. They are modelled estimates based on predefined scenarios and secondary (worst-case) data unless primary data is supplied. They are not third-party verified or certified. They do not replace a full ISO 14040/14044 LCA with critical review. Expert results are prepared to be audit-ready but require independent certifier sign-off for formal verification.

Frequently asked questions

1. 1ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006
2. 2Huijbregts et al., ReCiPe 2016: a harmonised life cycle impact assessment method at midpoint and endpoint level, RIVM Report 2016-0104
3. 3Ecoinvent database, version 3.12
4. 4Regulation (EU) 2024/1781; Directive (EU) 2022/2464
5. 5European Commission, PEFCR Apparel and Footwear (draft, under development)