Comparative analysis of wool & other fibre types

Current Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) modelling and SAC scoring treats natural/renewable and non-renewable fibres differently by fully costing the environmental impacts of the former but not the latter. This disparity in system boundaries inherently disadvantages natural fibres, which are made from renewable biogenic carbon, and advantages fibres made from fossil carbon sources. This study seeks to highlight this inconsistency by analysing interchangeable garments made from wool and synthetic fibres to determine environmental impacts, including green house gas emissions, fossil energy use, water stress and eutrophication.