Environmental labelling: turning a regulatory obligation into a product advantage

In textiles, food and furniture, environmental labelling is often treated as a compliance exercise to be completed at minimum cost. This overlooks one point: before a company can calculate a score, it must first describe its entire product portfolio in detail. Once completed, this mapping is an asset the company keeps, and it serves purposes well beyond the regulatory requirement that prompted it.

France’s environmental labelling scheme (affichage environnemental) was introduced by Article 2 of the 2021 Climate and Resilience Act and has two distinct objectives. For consumers, it aims to provide clear and objective information on the environmental impact of products, steering their choices towards more responsible consumption. For manufacturers and retailers, it is intended to prompt eco-design initiatives and make them visible, and in doing so to promote more sustainable production.

The timetable is being set sector by sector. In textiles, labelling has been voluntary since October 2025. As of 1 October 2026, one year after the implementing decree came into force, a further rule applies: any product that has not been assessed by the company placing it on the market may be assessed by a third party.

Companies that prepare now can benefit in three ways.

Making use of existing data

Mapping the portfolio does not require a new round of data collection. In most cases, the ERP and PLM system or bills of materials (BOMs) already contain the necessary data. The mapping shows which SKUs contribute most to the overall impact and which product categories account for a disproportionate share of it. It also reveals the raw materials and processes that recur most often.

Beyond labelling, the mapping helps manage costs and sourcing, and lays the groundwork for the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and the Digital Product Passport (DPP).

As of 1 October 2026, leaving a product unassessed no longer prevents a third party from assessing it. A company that has not done this work risks losing control over what is said about its own products.

Understanding the value chain

With the mapping in place, there is no need to assess every SKU with the same level of precision: the effort can focus on the SKUs the mapping has flagged as priorities. Reliable environmental labelling for these products requires detailed knowledge of their value chain.

In practice, this means tracing the processes involved in making a T-shirt, a bottle of olive oil or a piece of wooden furniture. Gathering this data often takes time, as it must be requested from suppliers, sometimes several tiers upstream.

A better understanding of your value chain also helps companies meet a growing need for traceability. This may mean complying with current or forthcoming regulation (duty of vigilance and CSDDD, EUDR, ESPR), securing your supply chain, or knowing your products well enough to apply eco-socio-design and communicate about them without reputational risk.

Traceability also depends on the willingness of suppliers to share information: they do not always provide the specific data requested, or provide it late.

One data collection, several indicators

‘How do we automate the calculation from our PLM?’ This is the question that comes up most often when a company starts working on environmental labelling. The answer lies in connecting to existing information systems, so that data does not have to be re-entered manually.

The data collected for environmental labelling overlaps substantially with what other frameworks require, notably the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method for life cycle assessment, the GHG Protocol for Scope 3 emissions inventories and biodiversity assessment methodologies. Data collected once can feed several analyses. Refining the portfolio analysis then reveals hotspots, so that eco-design can focus on what actually drives product impacts.

Where ASKOR fits in

The three opportunities described above follow the same logic: make use of what already exists, go deeper where it matters, then scale up. EVEA built ASKOR to support each of these stages, from the initial portfolio analysis to multi-indicator calculation.

Public authorities want to encourage companies to act on the impact of their products. ASKOR supports this through eco-design features that also cover social aspects.

Calculating the environmental cost required by the scheme calls for data beyond what the bill of materials contains. This data can be integrated when the product model is imported into ASKOR, with being re-entered. Once the workspace has been set up, scores can be declared on the government portal directly from the tool.

On the data side, ASKOR draws on several reference databases, including the Base Empreinte of ADEME, the French Agency for Ecological Transition, the Environmental Footprint (EF) database, ecoinvent and Agribalyse, alongside EVEA’s own data and partner data. It currently calculates 52 environmental indicators, a number set to grow as the software develops. This figure covers neither social risks nor the environmental cost (coût environnemental), the single score required by theFrench labelling scheme.

From environmental labelling to the Digital Product Passport

Calculating the score draws on precise data: material origin, manufacturing processes, carbon footprint. The Digital Product Passport required under the ESPR will call for the same data.

By starting this work now, companies build a body of product knowledge they can draw on at each new regulatory milestone, as the framework continues to develop.

Aude Cellerier, Laura Thibault and Laurent Derancourt, LCA and eco-design consultants at EVEA, work on these issues.