The EU is one step closer to adopting a unified way of measuring the environmental impacts of textiles and apparel. After five years of work, the Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR) for the fashion sector are now considered final, with “no further modifications” needed. A formal vote to submit the rules for approval by the European Commission is expected in the coming weeks.
This milestone was shared by Baptiste Carriere-Pradal of 2BPolicy, who has played a key role in the process since its early days at the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (now Cascale). Developed by a multi-stakeholder Technical Secretariat, the PEFCR has gone through two public consultations, several expert reviews, and validation by the European Commission. It is set to become the EU’s reference methodology for calculating and communicating the environmental footprint of textile and clothing products.
We will keep you updated when the results of the final vote are in, but for now we’ve summarized the changes of the final version of PEFCR for Apparel & Footwear for you. Also join our 15-min PEFCR webinar at the end of the month to bring you up to speed with everything you need to know as a fashion, apparel or footwear company.
If you want to learn about the PEFCR for Apparel and Footwear methodology, please read our easy-to-understand deep dive for textile brands here.
With the final version now complete and awaiting a final vote forand formal approval from the EU Commission, several significant changes have been introduced. These updates aim to clarify the methodology, improve data consistency, and ensure alignment with the latest scientific developments.
Once adopted, the framework is expected to play a central role in upcoming EU legislation — meaning brands will need to use it to assess and communicate the environmental footprint of their products.
Specifically, under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), it will be used to assess key product criteria like durability, repairability, and recyclability, and will feed into Digital Product Passports (DPPs) required for all textile products sold in the EU. In parallel, the Green Claims Directive will likely mandate the use of PEF to substantiate any environmental marketing claims, ensuring that labels such as “eco” or “climate neutral” are backed by harmonized, science-based data. Together, these regulations aim to standardize sustainability communication and product transparency across the industry.
You can find the latest version (3.0) of the full PEFCR guideline here.
The new PEFCR makes measuring the environmental impact of fashion products clearer. They now take into account how long a product lasts, how easily it can be repaired, and even how it’s washed, packaged, and shipped. Brands will need to use more accurate data and follow stricter rules if they want to make environmental claims or comply with upcoming EU regulations.
PEFCR now rewards products that last longer and can be repaired. If you prove your product is durable or repairable, your environmental score improves. If you don’t provide evidence, a default penalty applies (your product will be scored with a shortened lifetime).
What’s new:
Where to find it: Pages 50–67, Annex V and VI
End-of-life impacts and recycled content are now calculated more consistently.
What’s new:
Where to find it: Pages 124–139
PEFCR now includes the impact of fibrer fragments (e.g. microplastics) released during care (washing, drying).
What’s new:
Where to find it: Pages 73–77
PEFCR v3.0 has more accurate assumptions about how people care for different garments.
What’s new:
Product lifetime now depends more on product type, material, and performance.
What’s new:
Where to find it: Pages 47–49
Packaging-related emissions are now more accurately reflected.
What’s new:
Where to find it: Pages 149–154
Your actual logistics model now matters.
What’s new:
Where to find it: Pages 164–183, Annex VII
Stricter Data Requirements
You now need more primary (company-specific) data for your products.
What’s new:
Where to find it: Pages 96–106, 111
To help brands who don’t control every part of their supply chain, PEF v3.0 introduces clearer rules on what to do when you’re missing data.
What’s new:
Where to find it: Pages 109–115, Annex VIII (page 246)
If you use a software tool to calculate PEF scores, it now has to follow stricter rules.
What’s new:
Where to find it: Pages 220–221, Annex XI (page 267)
Certain products can’t be compared with others due to current data limitations.
You cannot compare:
Where to find it: Page 82, Annex V and VI
PEFCR 3.0 also outlines ideas for future versions.
What’s being explored:
Where to find it: Annex X (page 264)
Source:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dONIPjfpRESLxR2bujF7RHpJswkvRaRx/view
Carbonfact is an environmental data platform purpose-built for apparel and footwear. As EU regulations like the PEFCR raise expectations for data accuracy, transparency, and reporting, manual LCA processes are no longer scalable.
Our platform integrates directly with your core systems (ERP, PLM, etc.), cleans and analyzes product data, and automatically fills in missing information using the EF 3.1-compliant dataset. Instead of drastically increasing headcount to perform LCAs across the entire product catalogue, Carbonfact enables brands to automatically generate product-level footprint calculations aligned with the final PEFCR.
With Carbonfact, sustainability and product teams can instantly view PEF scores across their catalog, pinpoint high-impact stages, model reduction strategies, and generate audit-ready reports – all in one place.
See how it works in the demo video: