What is an Environmental Product Declaration and why does it matter?
It is easy to say that a product is produced in a sustainable way, but the claim falls flat unless you have cold, hard facts to back it up. Our current Fristads Green products come with a third-party approved Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) that details the material contents, water usage, energy consumption, climate impact and waste produced during the making and transportation of the garment. The certification is based on ISO 14025 and is controlled and verified according to the requirements of the International EPD® System.
We developed the EPD with the help of the governmental research institute RISE to increase the transparency of clothing production. We also wanted to give the textile industry a standardised tool that can measure the environmental impact of a garment in a meaningful and objective way. Naturally, our goal is to make our own clothes more sustainable, but also to increase awareness among manufacturers, supply managers and end users. Together, we can make better choices and change the ways of the clothing industry.
Green design and materials
Developing a sustainable clothing collection starts in the design room. In the Fristads Green collection, every seam and detail is carefully designed to save energy and minimise waste during the production, then paired with materials that have a lower environmental impact than their traditional counterparts. Fristads Green garments are made of organic cotton, recycled polyester and TENCEL® Lyocell, a wood fibre that comes from traceable sources.
The polyester is certified according to the Global Recycled Standard and made of 100% recycled PET bottles. Using mechanically recycled polyester cuts the energy consumption by 45% compared with virgin polyester and TENCEL® Lyocell uses 95% less water during production compared with cotton. The organic cotton in the Fristads Green garments is undyed to conserve water and the polyester is dyed using a colouring system called e.dye®. In this innovative process, the dye is added to the raw material before it becomes yarn, which cuts the water consumption by 75% compared with traditional dyeing.