"Textile companies do not need another score. They need to understand where the impact actually sits, and to trust the number enough to act on it."
Anton Luiken has worked in textile chemistry, processing and sustainability for over 40 years. He built the bAwear methodology around two principles: model the supply chain the way the industry really works, and stay conservative where data is missing rather than optimistic. Results reference ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (Hierarchist), aligned with ISO 14040/14044 principles.
From product data to impact score
Our streamlined LCA approach covers the full textile supply chain
in four clear steps.
Select a textile product scenario. Define fibre composition, weight, and construction.
Choose cradle to gate or cradle to grave. Define the boundary of your assessment.
SimaPro engine processes inputs using ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (H). Results across 4 impact categories.
Identify hotspots, compare against reference products, and generate reports.
Four categories that matter
ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (Hierarchist) impact assessment, focusing on the indicators most relevant to textile production.
Greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change. The primary indicator for textile environmental impact.
Fossil resource scarcity from direct fuel use and indirect conventional electricity production.
Water consumed or withdrawn throughout fibre production, processing, and care processes.
Agricultural and occupation land used for fibre production, especially relevant for natural fibres.
Cradle to gate and grave
Our methodology covers every step of the textile supply chain.
Each stage contributes to the total environmental impact of a product.
Textile LCA calculation engine
bAwear utilizes SimaPro's calculation engine and LCA expertise to provide credible LCA-based impact measurement for textiles. Together, we combine over 30 years of textile sustainability and LCA experience.
Where we stand
Two questions we get asked in every methodology discussion.
The Apparel & Footwear PEF Category Rules build on the European Commission's Environmental Footprint database. EF 3.1 expired in December 2025, and the Commission is working on EF 4.0, expected in 2027.
That leaves a gap: there is currently no maintained EF dataset to calculate PEFCR results against, and the category rules for apparel and footwear are not finalised.
We calculate with ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (Hierarchist) on SimaPro, aligned with ISO 14040/14044, so your results stay traceable and comparable over time. We follow the EF 4.0 work and will map our scenarios to it once it is published.
The composition and behaviour of chemicals used in textile processes are largely unknown and highly variable. Chemicals in formulations are often not fully disclosed, and their reactions during processing are complex and unpredictable.
Safety Data Sheets (SDS) are frequently incomplete, making accurate toxicity assessment difficult. Eco-toxicity models require known chemical structures, which are not always available.
bAwear believes that any toxicity impact calculations would be unreliable, and potentially misleading by a factor of 10-100 times, and thus prefers not to report these impact categories.
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