New material category for manmade cellulosic fibres (MMCF) and risk categories for air pollution and forests have been added to the Materials Impact Explorer (MIE) tool by global non-profit Textile Exchange.
With a focus on the early stages of the value chain where farms, forests, or industrial facilities are located, the Textile Exchange MIE tool, intended for brands, retailers, and suppliers, enables users to evaluate potential impacts and dependencies at the raw material country of origin level.
Collaboration with knowledgeable organisations such as the Apparel Impact Institute (Aii), Canopy, Conservation International, Rainforest Alliance, Risilience, The Nature Conservancy, Sebastián Block – Environmental Performance Index, Yale University, World Resources Institute, and ZDHC Foundation led to this expansion.
The tool’s relevance in the industry is highlighted by Veronique Rochet, senior director of sustainability at Puma, who stated, “We recently used the Materials Impact Explorer (MIE) tool provided by Textile Exchange to inform our biodiversity risk assessment of our key raw materials such as polyester and cotton.”
