Transformers Foundation Outlines Why Many Traceability Tools Fail to Meet the Standards of New Regulation Greenwashing has long been a problem in the apparel industry, but with new sustainability regulations going into effect in Europe and elsewhere, brands will have to back up…
eir green claims or face fines and other consequences. However, a new report from The Transformers Foundation reveals that the fashion and textile industry has a long way to go to make its sustainability claims match the reality of their supply chains, not to mention the parameters of regulation
More from WWD “The End of Fiction” report looks at why many existing textile and fiber traceability systems fail to meet emerging regulatory standards, despite widespread adoption of solutions such as certifications, digital traceability platforms and chain-of-custody models. “The analysis presented here shows that most current traceability models will fail new regulations structurally, not merely procedurally,” the report said. The Transformers Foundation report distinguishes between documented traceability—systems that describe supply chains—and evidence-based traceability through systems that preserve identity and produce independent, reproducible proof. At the same time, it points out physical and operational points where traceability failures occur in fiber supply chains, despite good intent. “In textiles, ‘traceability’ has become genericized, diluted in the same way the industry has diluted terms such as ‘sustainable,’ ‘regenerative,’ ‘ethical’ and ‘circular’ into broad language that conveys confidence without delivering proof,” the report said.
According to the report, the problem lies in the fact that many digital traceability platforms, certification frameworks, chain-of-custody systems and audit regimes validate processes rather than products, relying on what suppliers declare rather than what they actually do. “Traceability is routinely mistaken for systems that provide genuine value…