Today, fashion brands are more aware than ever that the negative impact of the fashion industry needs to be reduced. But as a fashion business, your resources are often limited, and environmental and social challenges are present on many fronts. Using more sustainable materials, improving working conditions, producing locally, increasing quality, reducing CO2 emissions, recycling…

Where do you start? To help you prioritize and see the bigger picture, research organization VITO and Flanders DC have developed the True Cost Calculator. This free online tool, developed as part of the H2020 SCIRT project, offers users a detailed view of the total impact of a garment at every stage of its life cycle—from fiber production to end of life.

With your input and background data, the tool makes the ‘true cost’—the impact of your collection pieces—visible and objectively measurable. You can compare scenarios and make better design or purchasing decisions based on the whole picture. For instance, you can calculate the True Cost of a regular pair of jeans and compare all feasible adjustments to see which option achieves the best overall score.

• Anse Smeets (Researcher Circular Economy - VITO)
  Anse co-developed the model behind the True Cost Calculator. She will explain what True Cost thinking is, how the calculation model works, and where the data comes from.
• Simon Gryspeert (Project Manager Sustainability - Flanders DC)
  Simon demonstrates how the tool works in practice, what you can do with it, and how to integrate its use into your company’s workflow.