The Higg Materials Sustainability Index (Higg MSI) was launched in 2012 by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), a nonprofit alliance of more than 100 fast fashion companies (including H&M, Norrøna, Nike, Primark, Walmart, Boohoo and Amazon, among the others).
This material assessment tool was designed to evaluate and compare the environmental impacts of materials, trims, and packaging, used in the apparel, footwear, and home textile industries and drive the development of materials sustainability strategies within companies. The tool also measured environmental impact in different areas, including global warming and water scarcity. The index was supposed to develop a common language based on consistent data and verified scores, encouraging collaborative goal setting and industry-wide improvement, but, two days ago, SAC announced the index will be temporarily suspended.
In June, the Norwegian Consumer Authority (NCA) warned H&M Group against using the Higg index to support its environmental claims and warned there would have been economic sanctions if the index was still used by 1 September. The NCA also investigated claims by Norwegian outdoor brand Norrøna, that also uses the Higg index on its website, and concluded that the data was misleading to consumers, and the claims about an organic cotton T-shirt was "likely to be false and untruthful" and in breach of Norway's Marketing Control Act.
As a consequence, SAC announced it will pause the consumer facing transparency program globally. The Higg Index seal and scorecard will therefore be removed from the participating online retail platforms while further evaluation takes place. Yet the Higg MSI and other Higg Index tools remain active and available to all users on the Higg platform.
Activists are not surprised, as they previously expressed their concern and skepticism about an index that assessed the sustainability of a product partially rather than throughout its lifespan. Besides, the index doesn't indicate garments containing microplastics, and the data offered are the ones uploaded by the brands themselves.
Earlier this month, the New York Times criticised the Higg MSI highlighting how scores on the index favoured synthetic materials made from fossil fuels rather than natural fibres such as cotton and wool (SAC issued a statement explaining this is incorrect as the dataset is supposed to be used to make more informed decisions about how to improve the impact of a material, rather than as a generalised measure of the sustainability of a material). The data used for the scores also caused a controversy as they are based on studies by companies producing synthetic materials (for example, the data for elastane, were based on a study by elastane producer Invista).
So far the Higg Index was mainly criticised by companies operating within the fashion industry (natural yarn manufacturers, for example), but the involvement of the Norwegian Consumer Authority (NCA) in the debate may mean consumers will become more aware of the Higg Index and of its data sources.
SAC announced it will work with the NCA and other consumer agencies and regulators to better understand how to substantiate product level claims with trusted and credible data, highlighting they want to empower consumers "to make better decisions". Yet, they should be aware that, while consumers are becoming more interested in learning about the environmental impact of what they wear, they also dislike the greenwashing practices adopted by some companies operating within the fashion industry, and are perfectly capable of making decisions such as boycotting companies lying about their commitment to sustainability and the environment.
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