{"id":44177,"date":"2023-09-18T11:45:06","date_gmt":"2023-09-18T16:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/textileexchange.org\/?post_type=news&p=44177"},"modified":"2023-09-18T11:47:28","modified_gmt":"2023-09-18T16:47:28","slug":"textile-exchange-publicly-launches-the-preferred-fiber-and-materials-matrixa-tool-to-enable-a-holistic-understanding-of-certified-material-choices","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/textileexchange.org\/news\/textile-exchange-publicly-launches-the-preferred-fiber-and-materials-matrixa-tool-to-enable-a-holistic-understanding-of-certified-material-choices\/","title":{"rendered":"Textile Exchange publicly launches the Preferred Fiber and Materials Matrix, a tool to enable a holistic understanding of certified material choices."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In this latest release of Preferred Fiber and Materials Matrix, updated human rights, chemical management, and initiative integrity content assesses the performance of different sustainability standards within material categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

September 19, London \u2013 In a milestone move, Textile Exchange announces the launch of the newly updated Preferred Fiber and Materials Matrix (PFMM), publicly available for the first time.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now an open-source tool for the industry, the PFMM assesses the performance of different sustainability standards within material categories, across 80 qualitive and quantitative indicators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This interactive tool is designed to show what is covered \u2013 and what is not \u2013 within various standards, across a range of impact areas. It gives the owners of these standards systems a way to view their performance in a standardized way and toward a shared \u201cdirection of travel\u201d for beneficial impact, while also helping brands to make informed material sourcing decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the EU Commission<\/a>, it is estimated that over 80% of all product-related environmental impacts are determined during the design phase, making material choices critical in reducing environmental impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interactive PFMM tool assesses standards systems across impact area<\/strong>s including Climate, Water, Chemicals, Land, Resource Use and Waste, Biodiversity, Human Rights, and Animal Welfare. In addition, Initiative Integrity measures the robustness and governance of a given standard system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the 80 indicators, six are quantitative, based on life cycle assessment (LCA) data. In addition, the PFMM includes qualitative indicators, such as having explicit requirements around management systems and monitoring \u2013 for example around emissions management or demonstrating beneficial environmental outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Textile Exchange adopted the PFMM in 2020, which was originally conceived by Gap Inc. for its internal designers and product teams. Since then, significant updates have been made, including bringing the methodology fully in-house and updating the content behind each impact area, informed by expert opinion and leading authorities in each subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key PFMM updates<\/p>\n\n\n\n