The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) and Higg Co released a new version of the Higg Materials Sustainability Index (Higg MSI), the leading tool to assess the environmental impact of materials in the apparel, footwear, and textile industry.
Now available on the Higg Index platform Higg.org, the Higg MSI can calculate the environmental impacts of millions of possible material manufacturing variations. It empowers brands, retailers, and manufacturers to compare material life-cycle assessment data and make more sustainable design and materials choices. In this new version release, the Higg MSI now offers an enhanced user experience, a new database, and updated scoring.
“The release of the updated Higg MSI is a big milestone for the industry because it provides more accurate and detailed information, allowing users to dive more deeply into material assessment,” says Amina Razvi, Executive Director of the SAC. “With increased use and shared data, the Higg MSI will continue to evolve and become even stronger, helping to drive collective action.”
Key updates to the 2020 Higg MSI include:
- New interface offering an enhanced user experience
- Migration from a standalone website to the Higg.org platform, alongside other Higg tools
- Addition of a packaging library, comparisons, and customization
- Addition of a trims and components library, comparisons, and customization
- Ability to customize transportation distances and modes between processing steps
- Ability to assign chemistry certifications at the process level
- New background LCA database (GaBi)
- New water scarcity assessment methodology (AWARE)
- Updated chemistry scoring methodology and new chemistry data
- Inclusion of biogenic carbon and water consumption in metadata
- New process level loss rates, ensuring material assessments include consideration for process efficiencies
Click here to view the full list of updates.
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