Sakupe, a Finnish textile service provider, wanted to find out the carbon footprint for the in-use time of healthcare professionals’ workwear. OpenCO2net helped Sakupe to identify emission sources and select the right emission factors. It also helped with determining the carbon footprint of the workwear’s in-use textile care. As well as transport and disposal according to the ISO 14067 standard.
The greenhouse gas emissions were calculated per wash of one garment at Sakupe’s Jyväskylä laundry. The calculation was based on data from year 2021. The calculation took into account the entire textile care process, including greenhouse gas emissions from chemicals and water use. For transport, a sensitivity analysis was carried out. It helped to compare the impact on emissions of transporting workwear to two different customers in different locations.
The carbon footprint of the product during its life-cycle is not only influenced by Sakupe’s textile care activities. It is also influenced by the high quality of the garment. With the longer lifetime of the product the in-use emissions are increasing. However the relative contribution of emissions from the production phase of the garment decreases. As the product lasts longer in the cycle, resources do not have to be used to produce new garments.
“An environmentally friendly culture is part of our everyday business, which is why it was a natural step to look at the in-use emissions of the workwear. With this information, we can further improve the efficiency of our operations and reduce our environmental impacts.” says Harri Lepoaho, Sakupe Jyväskylä Local Manager and Chairman of Sakupe’s Quality and Environment Team.
In the project, the OpenCO2net team was particularly pleased with Sakupe’s approach of taking the environment into account when choosing service partners. When the workwear cannot be used anymore, it is transported for recycling instead of being incinerated.
In 2021, OpenCO2net helped Touchpoint, manufacturer of healthcare professionals’ workwear, to identify the emissions caused by manufacturing the same workwear. The carbon footprint calculation for Sakupe was carried out in line with the assumptions made in Touchpoint’s calculation.
