Cradle-to-Grave Wool LCA Published in Leading Journal

First Full Wool LCA Reveals Importance of Use Phase – IWTO funded study confirms

Wrapping up seven years of work, the wool industry’s first full cradle-to-grave wool life cycle assessment (LCA) was published in May 2020.

The study examines the environmental impacts of a 300-gram wool sweater over the course of its lifetime, from the farm in Australia to processing and finishing in China, to sale in the EU market.

Top among the findings is the importance of how often a garment is worn, and how long it is actively used.

Clothes that are worn more often and used for longer reduce the impacts generated by their manufacture, the researchers found. It’s the same rationale as the one against single-use plastics.

Learn more about the IWTO findings, and download the study, on iwto.org/first-full-wool-lca/.

Life Cycle Assessments are an important tool to measure the environmental impacts of the wool supply chain and start benchmarking efforts for improvement. At The Schneider Group we have also developed LCA studies within our own supply chain to ensure we understand our impacts and can work towards becoming a climate-neutral business and achieving our climate action goals.  You can read more about our own efforts here.