In June 2025, the European Commission welcomed the new Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR) for Apparel and Footwear, marking an important step towards a harmonised approach for measuring the environmental impact of clothing and footwear.
Developed over five years by a multi-stakeholder Technical Secretariat including brands, manufacturers, NGOs, industry associations and national bodies, the PEFCR provides a single, science-based methodology for assessing the environmental footprint of apparel and footwear products across their full life cycle.
For brands, manufacturers and retailers, it offers a consistent alternative to the wide range of environmental labels and methodologies currently used across the market.
What is the Apparel and Footwear PEFCR?
The PEFCR builds on the European Union’s Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) methodology, which is based on internationally recognised Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) standards (ISO 14040 and ISO 14044).
The methodology provides consistent rules for calculating the environmental impact of apparel and footwear products from raw material extraction through manufacturing, transport, consumer use and end-of-life.
Key features include:
- Coverage of 13 apparel and footwear product categories.
- Assessment across 16 environmental impact categories, including climate change, water use, land use and human health.
- Evaluation of the complete product life cycle.
- Consideration of durability, repairability and circularity.
- Use of company-specific primary data for the most significant life cycle stages, supported by standardised secondary datasets where appropriate.
One of the core principles of the PEFCR is material neutrality. Products are assessed using the same scientific methodology regardless of whether they are made from natural, synthetic or recycled materials. This enables fair, data-driven comparisons based on measured environmental performance rather than assumptions about individual fibres.
Supporting credible environmental claims
Environmental claims are receiving increasing regulatory scrutiny across Europe. Statements such as “sustainable” or “eco-friendly” need to be supported by transparent and verifiable evidence.
A PEFCR-aligned Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) provides companies with a robust basis for understanding where environmental impacts occur, whether in raw material production, manufacturing, transport, product use or end-of-life.
This allows businesses to:
- Substantiate environmental claims with science-based data.
- Identify environmental hotspots across the value chain.
- Reduce the risk of greenwashing.
- Support sustainability reporting and customer requests.
How the PEFCR supports future EU regulations
Although the PEFCR itself is a voluntary methodology, it has been developed to support the European Union’s broader sustainability framework.
The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), which entered into force in 2024, identifies textiles as one of its priority product groups. Product-specific ecodesign requirements are expected to be introduced through future delegated acts.
Alongside the ESPR, the European Commission is also developing:
- Digital Product Passports (DPPs), which will make product sustainability information more accessible throughout the value chain.
- New transparency requirements relating to unsold textiles and footwear.
Together, these initiatives create a connected framework where the PEFCR provides the methodology for measuring environmental performance, the ESPR establishes future product requirements, and Digital Product Passports will communicate verified product information.
Why companies should prepare now
Textiles and footwear are among the first sectors targeted under the ESPR, making this an ideal time for companies to strengthen their environmental data.
Developing robust, PEFCR-aligned LCAs today can help businesses:
- Prepare for future regulatory requirements.
- Support future Digital Product Passports.
- Respond to customer sustainability requests.
- Improve product design by identifying environmental hotspots.
- Build credible, evidence-based sustainability claims.
How Prelude Analytics can help
At Prelude Analytics, we help apparel and footwear companies develop transparent, science-based environmental assessments that support both business decisions and future regulatory readiness. Our expertise includes:
- PEFCR-aligned Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs).
- Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) calculations.
- Environmental hotspot analysis across complex supply chains.
- Data preparation for sustainability reporting and future Digital Product Passports.
Contact Prelude Analytics
- Build robust PEFCR-aligned LCAs for your apparel and footwear products.
- Strengthen your sustainability claims with transparent environmental data.
We help companies generate reliable environmental insights that support compliance, product development and credible sustainability communication.
Sources:
European Commission – New EU rules for measuring the environmental impact of clothes and shoes