Carbonfact completes EverDye Process-level LCA for Adore Me

Textile dyeing is among the most carbon-intensive stages in fashion production. EverDye, a French clean-tech startup, is rethinking this process from the ground up with a bio-based, low-energy dyeing solution designed for wide industry adoption. 

In partnership with lingerie brand Adore Me, part of the Victoria’s Secret & Co. portfolio, Carbonfact performed a process-level life cycle assessment (LCA) of EverDye in order to help the brand measure its first-ever bio-sourced pigment collection. 

EverDye is now part of Carbonfact’s extended supplier ecosystem, alongside leading material and process innovators such as Manteco, Lenzing, and the Better Cotton Initiative. These integrations give brands access to primary supplier data for more accurate carbon footprinting directly within the Carbonfact platform.

EverDye: A Fast, Low-Energy Alternative to Conventional Dyeing

Everdye’s innovation lies in pigments derived from natural molecules that can be used across dyeing machines without additional capital investment. Compared to conventional dyeing, the EverDye process requires:

• No petrochemicals or mordants: Uses bio-based pigments that don’t require toxic chemicals to fix color.
• Ambient temperature dyeing: Works at room temperature instead of the typical 95°C, reducing heat demand.
• 5 times faster process: Completes dyeing in ~2 hours versus ~12 hours with conventional methods.
• Less energy consumption : Eliminates the need for heating water, significantly cutting energy use.
• Less water consumption: Less chemicals used during the dyeing step ensure less rinsing steps, therefore less and cleaner water use.
• No equipment change needed: Compatible with existing dyeing machines — no CAPEX or infrastructure updates required.

This makes it a plug-and-play solution for manufacturers looking to lower their environmental footprint without disrupting production lines.

Carbonfact completes EverDye Process-level LCA for Adore Me

Adore Me, a digitally native lingerie brand, has long used technology to reduce its carbon footprint without raising costs. In 2023, the brand launched an accelerator program to collaborate with emerging climate tech startups. Carbonfact and EverDye were among the first cohort partners.

Adore Me, one of Carbonfact’s earliest customers, integrates carbon data at the very start of product development. Their design and engineering teams use Carbonfact to forecast the impact of changes in materials, suppliers, or transportation on the overall company environmental footprint. Read here how Adore Me used Carbonfact to simulate production changes, resulting in a 12% emissions reduction for its Spring 2024 collection.

Last year, Adore Me released a Halloween capsule collection developed with EverDye, using bio-based pigments and a low-heat, low-energy dyeing process. This collection is among the first to apply EverDye’s technology at brand scale.

For the Halloween capsule collection, Carbonfact’s science team conducted a process-level LCA of EverDye, helping Adore Me quantify the dyeing-related emissions and compare them to industry benchmarks.

Amira Erokh, CTO and co-founder of EverDye: “Working with Carbonfact allowed us to put numbers on the impact our solution has, which is critical to show its potential to our clients and help them take the step forward to decarbonize the industry.”

Method: How the LCA Was Conducted

To accurately assess the environmental impact of the Everdye process, Carbonfact performed a LCA following the ISO 14040/44 standard. The functional unit for the study was 1 kg of dyed fabric, with the system boundary defined as cradle-to-gate, encompassing all processes up to the dye-house gate.

The LCA was based on data from a production plant in Finland for pigment production and a dyeing facility in France for the dyeing process. This was a preliminary assessment without external review, utilizing primary data collected directly by Everdye. Carbonfact conducted the modeling, with the results subsequently reviewed by Everdye to ensure accuracy.

For background data, the analysis relied on the Ecoinvent 3.10 database. The impact assessment methods followed IPCC GWP 100 (AR6) and EF3.1 guidelines, with biogenic carbon accounted for using the 0/0 approach.

Main Findings from the Everdye Process LCA

The LCA of Everdye process provided valuable insights into the environmental performance of the dyeing process. Here are the key results:

Climate impact varies by location, largely due to differences in the electricity grid:

• France: 0.45 kg CO₂e per kg of dyed fabric
  
  
• Turkey: 1.45 kg CO₂e/kg
  
  
• Tunisia: 1.68 kg CO₂e/kg

If the facilities in these countries run on renewables, which is a possibility, the impact would be in the same range as in France.

Promising Climate Results for EverDye’s Pilot Process:

Early results suggest that EverDye is among the lowest-impact dyeing technologies we’ve analyzed. In particular, the EverDye process in France performs better than many conventional methods, including waterless dyeing with supercritical CO₂.

It’s worth noting that this assessment is based on pilot-scale operations, meaning there is still room for optimization in the process, especially around energy efficiency and throughput. Even at this early stage, the results are promising.

The comparison uses literature and public data for conventional dyeing technologies, which generally reflect global averages. These can vary significantly depending on local energy mixes, machinery, and factory setups. In contrast, EverDye’s results come from a detailed, site-specific LCA.

So while the overall trend is clear, EverDye shows strong climate performance, the exact difference should be interpreted with care. A like-for-like comparison would require aligning assumptions across all technologies.

Water scarcity impact is slightly higher in France due to cooling demands from nuclear power plants, which dominate the French energy mix.

EverDye process step is integrated in Carbonfact’s Platform

With the integration of EverDye’s dyeing technology into Carbonfact’s platform, other customers can now model and measure the environmental impact of EverDye’s low-energy, bio-based process directly within their product footprint analyses.

This enables more precise impact assessments, scenario modeling, and informed process selection, helping teams make data-backed decisions that support decarbonization goals.

Key benefits for Carbonfact’s customers include:

1. Higher precision in footprint measurement: Brands using Everdye can now assess the specific impact of its low-heat process instead of defaulting to conventional dyeing baselines.
2. Process comparison: Even if a brand hasn’t yet adopted Everdye, they can simulate the environmental benefits of switching from conventional dyeing, offering clear insights during product development.
3. Scenario modeling at scale: Brands can forecast the potential impact of adopting Everdye across multiple product lines, supporting broader emissions reduction strategies.

Bespoke Emission Factors in Carbonfact

Bespoke emission factors play a crucial role in accurately measuring carbon footprints for unique materials and processes developed by leading apparel and footwear brands. While standard materials have established data, these brands utilize innovative or specific materials that require custom calculations. Carbonfact cooperates with brands using the platform, developing tailored emission factors through the analysis of LCA studies, primary data collection, and detailed breakdowns of emissions at various production stages. 

Through Carbonfact’s growing supplier ecosystem, clients gain access to pre-integrated, supplier-specific emission factors from trusted industry partners — including Lenzing, Carbios, Leather Working Group, and many more. This allows brands to calculate footprints using the most accurate data available.

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