Environmental Impact Measuring (EIM), the self-accreditation tool that measures garment finishing processes’ environmental impact across four categories—water and energy needs, chemical impact, and worker impact—published its first report.

The “Innovations and Challenges in Denim Finishing: 2024 Report” aims to set a new benchmark for sustainability in the industry by providing analysis based on data from over 115,000 denim finishing processes collected through the EIM platform.

The report reveals that 63 percent of the analyzed processes are already classified as low environmental impact, reflecting a positive shift toward more responsible practices. The energy category has the highest percentage of low-impact processes (85 percent), suggesting that practices in this area are well optimized. The water category “shows decent performance” with 71 percent of low-impact processes.

However, the report states that the current average water usage in denim finishing is 30 liters per garment, which is still above EIM’s recommended benchmark of 22.5 liters per garment.

Pivoting to low-impact chemicals remains a significant challenge for the industry to address. The report highlights the denim industry’s use of hazardous chemicals (24 percent of processes), particularly potassium permanganate (PP) and pumice stones.

PP accounts for 9 percent of the processes, while pumice stones account for 16 percent. Both processes require safer and more sustainable alternatives due to their negative effects on both the environment and worker health, the report states. The strategic selection of ZDHC-certified chemicals and the automation and digitalization of manual processes are also among EIM’s proposed improvements.

“For years, the textile industry has lacked reliable tools to measure its environmental impact, making data-driven decisions difficult,” said Begoña García, creator of the EIM platform and co-author of the report. “This report marks a crucial step toward transparency and continuous improvement, showing that technology is key to measuring and reducing environmental impact.”

EIM has become a leading tool for measuring the environmental and social impact of textile finishing processes. Used by over 100 brands and over 500 laundries and production centers worldwide, it has been integrated into the sustainability strategies of companies across the market—from denim giants like Levi’s, Tommy Hilfiger and Guess, to H&M and American Eagle to leading laundries and finishing centers.

The software platform was designed by Jeanologia’s R&D team called Brainbox in 2009. It initially served as an internal tool to direct the technology firm’s development teams in how to develop commercial garments while lowering the environmental impact of the processes used to make them.

According to the report, the tool became an effective way for the Spanish technology firm to communicate cost savings to clients. By 2018, an advisory working group of experts from laundries, brands and retailers was created to establish a “level of independence” from Jeanologia. This resulted in a commercial version of the software available for all finishing equipment, whether they’re produced by Jeanologia or not.

The report addresses some of the concerns mentioned in a 2024 Kingpins Quarterly feature, which questioned if the standard by which Jeanologia is measuring denim production is fair and if the data is accurate. It states that two key initiatives have been developed and implemented to maintain data integrity, including an accreditation program created and managed by Jeanologia is designed to educate EIM users a uniform understanding of the software, and a third-party validation, conducted by GoBlu International Limited.

The validation involves assessments at the facility level and product level, the review of past and current orders, as well as “ensuring robust management systems are in place to secure data effectively and accurately,” the report states.