Textile environmental labelling (France): the complete guide 2025-2026

Introduction - what are we talking about?

Textile environmental labelling is the public system that informs consumers, via a score (the "environmental cost"), of the environmental footprint of a garment over its entire life cycle.

Deployment begins in autumn 2025, with the texts governing calculation and communication coming into force on October 1, 2025, and the declaration portal going online on September 15, 2025.

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1) What is "environmental cost" and how is it calculated?

The environmental cost is a multi-criteria score (the higher the value, the greater the impact) that aggregates 16 LCA impact categories (from the Product Environmental Footprint framework) and adds textile-specific complements **** (microfibers, non-EU exports), then applies a sustainability coefficient to the aggregated score.

How is it calculated?

• Complete garment LCA: materials → processing (spinning, textile forming, dyeing/finishing, garment making) → transport/distribution → use → end of life .
• 16 PEF indicators: same standardization as PEF, with adapted indicator weightings: freshwater ecotoxicity doubled, human toxicity (cancer & non-cancer) at 0% in the single score.
• Specific "non-LCA" complements :
  • Microfibre release (points according to the proportion of fibres released)
  • Export of collected used clothing to non-EU countries (penalty)
• Environmental cost display: a score in points representing total cost and cost per 100 g, for easy comparison between different cuts/weights.

How does the durability coefficient work?

This coefficient modulates the estimated life of the product according to the likelihood that the garment will be worn for a long time and/or repaired.

It is therefore proposed that the non-physical durability of a garment be estimated on the basis of 2 criteria linked to the brand's action:

1. Incentive to repair (repair price vs. sales price, existence of a recognized repair service): 50% of the coefficient.
2. Range width (number of references in a category: the wider the range, the faster the renewal, and therefore the lower the assumed durability): 50% of the coefficient.

The 5 market segments considered are: women's, men's, children's, baby and underwear. The introduction of these 5 market segments is intended to avoid a distorting effect that would penalize a brand covering all market segments compared with another brand covering *only one or several segments (*for example, only women's ready-to-wear).

Within these market segments, we do not consider references that would only address a specific subset of potential customers. For example, references specific to large sizes, pregnant women or people with disabilities.

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These 2 criteria are then combined to obtain a sustainability coefficient, ranging from 0.67 to 1.45. This sustainability coefficient will then be integrated into the environmental cost calculation.

Clothes from particularly virtuous brands will have a high sustainability coefficient (1.45), while clothes from "ultra fast fashion" brands will have a low sustainability coefficient (0.67). This coefficient will then modulate the environmental cost of a garment downwards for the most virtuous brands and upwards for garments from ultra fast fashion brands.

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The "display of traceability" criterion has been removed from the final version of the decree; in practice, default values apply if the brand does not provide its data (e.g. high range width by default, no repair service, etc.), which increases the final environmental cost of the product.

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2) Application timetable

• September 15, 2025: opening of the declaration portal
• October 1, 2025: entry into force - voluntary phase, only brands (or players with brand approval) can publish the environmental costs of their references on the public reporting portal.
• October 1, 2026: if the brand has not published the environmental costs of its products, third parties (distributors, NGOs, platforms, etc.) can calculate and publish the environmental cost without prior agreement from the brand, based on at least the mandatory parameters.

Remember: as soon as an environmental cost is registered on the declaration portal, anyone can use it for communication purposes, even before October 1, 2026.

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3) Who is affected (scope & exclusions)

‍Actorsconcerned: all producers, importers, distributors who place garments on the French market, whatever the origin (French companies or not).

Products included (clothing textiles):

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Special features:

• decree applicable to adult and children's clothing
• specific categories (e.g. bras) to be specified/completed as the methodology is updated

Current exclusions (non-exhaustive): single-use textiles, non-apparel textiles, footwear, accessories, leather, second-hand products, garments with more than 20% non-textile mass or non-modelled materials, electronic components, PPE not sold directly to consumers.

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4) What data are needed to calculate the environmental cost?

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Why is data key?

Calculating the environmental cost of products requires the collection of numerous data covering all stages of the product life cycle: raw materials, manufacturing, transport, use and end-of-life.

The challenges of accurate data collection :

• Avoid calculations based on default values that are often penalizing,
• Promote your eco-design efforts,
• Keep control of your environmental communications.

In addition to environmental labelling, this data collection work will save you time by enabling you to feed other regulatory requirements: CSRD, ESPR, carbon footprint (scope 3), or Digital Product Passport.

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What data to collect

The first step in rolling out environmental labelling is to identify and collect the minimum mandatory data.

Mandatory data (for a valid score) :

• Product category
• Product market segment (Men's, Women's, Children's, Baby's, Underwear)
• Mass of finished product
• Material composition (nature & percentages)
• Traceability (weaving, dyeing, manufacturing)

The score is calculated per sales reference (= single color), on a single representative size.

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Optional data (recommended for more accurate results)

They refine the model and avoid default values:

• New vs. reconditioned status; range width (no. of references); reference price; repair offer;
• Origin of raw materials, spinning ;
• Type/% of printed surface, washes ;
• Air freight share; list of accessories, etc. .

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5) How to communicate environmental costs?

Where and how to display it

• At point of purchase: in-store label or online product page (standardized visuals, see departmental graphic guidelines).
• Two compulsory numbers: the total score and the score per 100 g; the higher the value, the greater the impact.
• Online: the public portal makes results and declared parameters available; the digital label must comply with the official signage (refer to the charter).

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Declaration portal

Players communicating environmental costs must declare their data and score on the public declaration portal. The DGCCRF can check the veracity of the parameters (composition, country, etc.) based on pre-existing obligations (labeling, AGEC law, etc.).

Only certain registered data are public:

• product identification
• environmental cost and calculation date
• breakdown of environmental costs by 16 indicators
• the name of the entity that calculated the environmental cost
• the methodology used

All other data is accessible only to government officials authorized to monitor and control the system.

The environmental costs filed on the reporting portal can be updated every 3 months, and must be updated no later than 12 months after any change in methodology.

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Communication requirements of the Decree on Environmental Cost Disclosure

• All brands that communicate another impact score (e.g. CO2 impact) must communicate the environmental cost.
• The environmental cost can be communicated on the brand's website and/or physically on product labels. The environmental cost must be at least as large as the price font.

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6) Why act now when the phase is "voluntary"?

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Keep control of your scores and narrative:

From October 2026, if a brand has not published the environmental cost of a product, third parties (distributors, NGOs, media, apps...) will be able to calculate and publish it using the official methodology, without prior agreement from the brand.

However, in the absence of specific data, these third parties will use the Ecobalyse default values, which tend to lower the score. The result: a higher environmental cost than if the brand provided its own data. Publishing your own environmental costs now guarantees an accurate representation of your products.

• Avoid conservative defects: the absence of data leads to penalizing assumptions (country, transport, durability...). Anticipate collection to secure your scores and conversions.
• Obligatory condition: if you communicate another aggregate score (e.g. carbon footprint on your product pages), you must co-display the official environmental cost (consistency of scores required).

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Anticipate to control data and meet deployment deadlines

Deploying environmental labelling requires considerable data hygiene, which can be time-consuming:

• Mapping of data already available (BOM, mass, % materials, countries by stage, processes, transport).
• Identify data gaps in ERP/PLM/PIM and fill them.
• Cooperate with suppliers to obtain reliable information.
• Involve the IT team in interoperability (APIs, LCA tools, Ecobalyse formats, version governance).

The average implementation time we see with our customers (for a complete collection) is around 6 months. The earlier you start in 2025, the better prepared you'll be for 2026. By looking ahead, you can also reduce the operational burden associated with data cleansing, data mapping and calculating the environmental costs of your products.

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Gaining a competitive edge as early as 2025

Calculating your scores in 2025 allows you to :

• Compare your products with category medians, and target any discrepancies before publication ("private" benchmark).
• Identify hotspots (materials, processes, usage, end-of-life) and guide the eco-design of future collections.
• Train your Purchasing, CSR and Product teams in the new tools and processes to ensure a smooth transition to 2026.

Pool your efforts with your other regulatory obligations

The data sets required for environmental costing are also used to :

• TheESPR (Sustainable Product Regulation) and its future delegated act ;
• Scope 3 of the GHG balance (the most important part of the balance: purchases, transport, use);
• CSRD reporting(ESRS E1) and DPP (product passport).

Investing in 2025 will enable you to fuel several upcoming regulatory and strategic projects.

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