French eco-score for textiles: A stronger foundation for product communication

Introduction

Beyond the work it requires on the quality and organisation of your data, calculating the environmental cost of your products offers a decisive advantage: it is a clear, standardised and comparable indicator that finally allows you to talk about the impact of your products without slipping into greenwashing.

It is even the first step towards moving away from greenhushing: with this score, your environmental claims can now be justified, demonstrated and controlled.

But that only works if you understand the rules. On which channels can the score be displayed? In what format? And what becomes prohibited?

In short: how can you integrate your product’s environmental cost into your communications without missteps?

This is precisely what we explore in this second article of the module “The Impacts of Environmental Labelling for Your Brand.”

How to communicate your product’s environmental cost

Communicating an environmental cost is not simply “adding another line of information” to a product sheet. It means integrating into your communications a standardised format designed to be understood, compared and verified, without any marketing embellishment.

Depending on the customer journey, this score may appear online, in-store or on the packaging via a QR code. But what truly matters is not the channel itself; it is the way the information is presented. The environmental cost must strictly follow the official ADEME template.

Typography, colours, scale, units… none of these elements can be adjusted or reinterpreted. No “more flattering” shade of green, no positive icon, no customised visual layout. The format is intentionally locked down to prevent visual bias and ensure a neutral, comparable and transparent piece of information.

Your challenge is therefore not to make it attractive, but to integrate it seamlessly: visible enough to inform, discreet enough not to complicate the experience.

• On an e-commerce page, it naturally sits alongside other key product information.
• In-store, a QR code gives access to full details without crowding the label.
• And in marketing campaigns, the environmental cost remains a factual metric, never something to embellish or reinterpret.

What you’re no longer allowed to communicate

Article 2 of the Climate & Resilience Act introduces a major shift: you can no longer publish any environmental indicator unless the French eco-score of the product is displayed at the same time, in the same place, with equivalent visibility.

This means you can no longer communicate , without first displaying the environmental cost, the following:

• Your product’s CO₂ emissions,
• Water savings linked to its production,
• Or even any environmental impact calculated using the European PEF method.

The rule is crystal clear: any stand-alone or partial environmental figure, or any metric produced using internal calculations, may be considered misleading. The environmental cost becomes the mandatory reference point around which all other information must be framed.

In other words: no more “advantageous” figures taken out of context, no more in-house comparisons, no more selective indicators designed to flatter a material or process.

The moment you choose to communicate on environmental performance, you must, at minimum, disclose the environmental cost calculated using ADEME’s methodology.

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Why communicating the score is strategic

As mentioned in the article “French eco-score for textiles: Why and how to ensure data reliability", one point is worth repeating: if you don’t communicate your product’s environmental cost, someone else will do it for you.

Marketplaces, retailers, NGOs, comparison tools… the entire ecosystem will have access to the public data needed to display your score.

And once that happens, you lose control over your message.

Communicating the environmental cost yourself enables you to:

• Control the narrative you want to put forward,
• Provide the explanations needed to understand the score,
• Add context to the results you publish,
• And prevent others from presenting your score without nuance.

It is also the simplest way to bring clarity to your eco-design approach and prepare for upcoming regulations: the ESPR, the Product Passport, the new rules on environmental claims…

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The environmental cost: an antidote to greenwashing

Environmental labelling follows a simple logic: if you want to communicate about a product’s impact, you must rely on a standardised and comparable methodology.

As a result, your communication shifts from declarative claims to a robust framework grounded in measurable data.

This is precisely what makes the environmental cost such a strong barrier against greenwashing. The process is the same for all brands:

• A shared methodology,
• A standardised presentation,
• No way to visually “soften” a poor score,
• A requirement to link every claim to verifiable data.

You can no longer dress up a mediocre score, nor wrap it in a narrative that makes it appear more positive than it is.

The score says what it says. And that clarity is its strength.

It also legitimises all your other messages: material choices, impact improvements, progress from one collection to the next. You can explain, demonstrate and contextualise. But everything starts with a rigorous, comparable foundation.

Once integrated, the score becomes a powerful brand tool. It aligns communication, product teams and sustainability teams around a shared reference point. It highlights your progress season after season. It shows, clearly and measurably, that your material or process choices have a real impact.

Brands that adopt this mindset early gain a clear advantage: they learn faster, strengthen their data systems, structure their messaging and build credibility in a landscape crowded with vague environmental claims. They no longer talk about impact: they prove it.

Conclusion

Environmental labelling is not a marketing exercise; it is a complete shift in how brands communicate about impact. It brings structure, credibility and clarity. It aligns your data with your storytelling. And it finally allows you to communicate without falling into the traps of greenwashing.

By adopting this framework, you move from intention to demonstration. And in a market where environmental information is often partial or difficult to compare, that clarity becomes a true competitive advantage.

But now that you know what to communicate, one question remains: how do you avoid the most common mistakes? How do you stay compliant without limiting your creativity? How do you use the score without overusing it, and without undermining your credibility?

That’s exactly what the next article in this module covers: a clear guide to the do’s and don’ts of communicating your environmental labelling: with accuracy, transparency… and impact.