Carbon footprint for fashion and textiles
How much CO₂ is in a garment.
Using your suppliers' numbers.
Enter composition, energy use and transport. CarbonWear calculates the kg CO₂e and shows where every value comes from: primary data or database, source, quality.
- Open datasources and licences stated
- Up to the finished garmentfrom raw materials until it leaves the factory
- No made-up numbersmissing data stays visible
How it works
- 1
Fibres
Garment weight and composition. Each fibre has its own emission factor per kg, from an open source or the supplier's EPD.
- 2
Processing
For each stage, the kWh and gas used and the country. Electricity weighs very differently in Italy, Turkey or Bangladesh.
- 3
Transport
Mode and kilometres of each leg. Ship, truck and plane have very different impacts.
Calculator
Values refer to one garment. Leave blank what you don't know: the result will flag it.
Method and sources
CarbonWear estimates climate impact only (kg CO₂e): the emissions generated from raw materials until the garment leaves the factory. It covers fibre production, spinning, weaving or knitting, dyeing, garment making and the transport between these stages.
Delivery to shops, use (washing, drying, ironing) and disposal or recycling are not included. The calculation follows the stage structure of the PEFCR Apparel & Footwear v3.1, the EU rules for clothing, but it is not a PEF study: that requires all environmental indicators, official EF data and external verification.
We use primary data first: the real energy use of your departments and suppliers. To turn it into CO₂e we use public factors, each with source, year and licence.
The result is a transparent estimate, not a certified declaration. Every calculation records the method and data versions, so it can be reproduced exactly.
| Data | Source | Licence |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity by country | Ember, via Our World in Data | CC BY 4.0 |
| Transport and natural gas | UK DESNZ, conversion factors 2025 | OGL v3 |
| Fibres | Open-access scientific papers | CC BY |
| Fibres without open data | Your supplier's EPD | Yours |
Full list with links: sources in JSON.
Is your customer asking for the carbon footprint of your garments?
We start from 1-3 products and the data you already have. You get a report with emissions calculated by stage, the sources used and the data still to request from suppliers: a documented answer, not a stand-alone number.
What you send
- Bill of materials for 1-3 garments
- Suppliers and countries for each stage
- Whatever energy data you have: bills, meters, department estimates
What you get
- The calculation by stage, with source and quality of every value
- The stages where emissions concentrate
- The list of missing data and who can provide it
How it works
- The first conversation is free
- Analysis and report are paid, on quotation
- Timing and cost are agreed once we have seen the available data
For brands and platforms
The same engine is available through a REST API: send composition, stages and legs, get back the total and the line-by-line breakdown. It is the engine behind the CO₂ figure in the ChainWear Digital Product Passport.
POST /api/v1/footprint
{
"product": { "massKg": 0.18 },
"composition": [
{ "fibre": "cotton_conventional", "share": 1 }
],
"stages": [
{ "stage": "dyeing", "country": "IT",
"electricityKwh": 0.6 }
],
"transport": [
{ "mode": "sea_container", "km": 3000 }
]
}Frequently asked questions
How is the carbon footprint of a garment calculated?
Three parts are added up: fibres (mass, increased by processing waste, times the fibre emission factor), processing (energy used times the factor of the country where it happens) and transport (tonnes times kilometres times the mode factor).
Is the result a certification?
No. It is an estimate of climate impact only, from raw materials until the garment leaves the factory. It shows where emissions concentrate and which data to ask suppliers for.
Why does the result say "partial"?
Because data is missing for one or more stages: for example dyeing energy was entered but spinning was not. The total covers only the stages entered, and the result lists the ones not covered.
What happens when data is missing?
CarbonWear does not make numbers up. The missing item is flagged and left out of the total. For fibres without open data you can enter the value from your supplier's EPD.
What does "to verify" mean?
Some factors come from reliable sources but have not yet been re-checked against the original document. We use them, but the result says so and the data quality score drops.
Is my data kept private?
The public calculator does not store the data you enter. The calculation runs on our server and the result is returned only to you.