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Audit-Ready Carbon Reporting for Apparel, Accessories & Footwear

Track tier 2 supplier emissions, textile carbon intensity, and manufacturing footprints across 500+ vendors in emerging markets.

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The Industry Hotspot: Tier 2 Manufacturing Emissions

80% of footprint in tier 2 manufacturing

For apparel brands, 80% of emissions live in the manufacturing vendors operating textile mills, dyeing facilities, and cut-and-sew factories in Bangladesh, Vietnam, China, and India. NetNada automates data collection from these tier 2 suppliers, calculates carbon intensity per garment, and validates data against industry benchmarks.

SASB Industry Definition

The Apparel, Accessories & Footwear industry includes entities involved in the design, manufacturing, wholesaling and retailing of various products, including adult and children's clothing, handbags, jewellery, watches and footwear. Products are manufactured primarily by vendors in emerging markets, thereby allowing entities in the industry to focus on design, wholesaling, marketing, supply chain management and retail activities.

View SASB Standard →

Industry-Specific Carbon Accounting

No generic solutions. Metrics, data sources, and reporting aligned to Apparel, Accessories & Footwear operations.

Track Emissions Per Garment

Allocate factory-level emissions to production volumes. Calculate kgCO2e per t-shirt, per pair of jeans, per jacket. Compare product lines to identify high-carbon SKUs.

kgCO2e per unit tracked

Material Carbon Intensity Database

Built-in emission factors for virgin polyester (5.5 kgCO2e/kg), recycled polyester (2.7 kgCO2e/kg), organic cotton (2.1 kgCO2e/kg), conventional cotton (5.9 kgCO2e/kg). Make data-driven material substitution decisions.

50+ textile emission factors

Supplier Engagement Portal

Automated questionnaires sent to 500+ suppliers. Pre-filled with public data where available. Track response rates. Flag outliers (e.g., 'Supplier reports 0.05 kgCO2e/kg fabric but industry average is 0.32').

Automated anomaly detection

SASB CG-AA Alignment

Reports map directly to SASB Apparel, Accessories & Footwear disclosure topics: Environmental Impacts in the Supply Chain, Raw Materials Sourcing, and Labor Conditions. Auto-generates footnotes citing methodology.

SASB CG-AA compliant

Product-Level Carbon Labels

Generate consumer-facing carbon labels showing kgCO2e for each product. Supports on-pack labeling, e-commerce display, and marketing claims validation.

Product carbon labels

Supply Chain Decarbonization Prioritization

Rank suppliers by carbon intensity × production volume. Focus reduction efforts on top 50 suppliers representing 70% of manufacturing emissions. Track progress quarterly.

Pareto supplier prioritization

Product Features for Apparel, Accessories & Footwear

Use our Supplier Engagement Portal to send automated ESG questionnaires to 500+ apparel manufacturers, track responses, and validate data quality. Learn more →

The Scope 3 Calculator combines primary supplier data, textile emission factors, and transport emissions into auditable Category 1 (purchased goods) inventory. Learn more →

Carbon Data Uploader handles supplier data imports from CSV, Excel, and PDF invoices—no manual re-keying of production volumes or material compositions. Learn more →

Related Solutions

Combine this with our Supply Chain Decarbonisation solution to cascade SBTi targets to tier 2 suppliers and track reduction progress.

View solution

See our Carbon Accounting solution for end-to-end footprint calculation including retail operations, logistics, and corporate offices.

View solution

Apparel, Accessories & Footwear Case Studies

How entities in this industry use NetNada to solve carbon accounting challenges.

Global Apparel Brand (500 suppliers, $2B revenue)

Challenge

CSRD required Scope 3 Category 1 disclosure with supplier-specific data. Manual email outreach achieved 15% response rate. Missing data for 425 suppliers.

Solution

Deployed NetNada supplier portal. Sent automated questionnaires in supplier local languages (Bengali, Mandarin, Vietnamese). Pre-filled with public emissions data where available.

Result

62% supplier response rate. Completed Scope 3 inventory in 12 weeks. Used industry averages for non-responders with data quality footnotes.

Sustainable Fashion Startup (18 suppliers)

Challenge

Marketing claimed '50% lower carbon than industry average' but had no data to substantiate. Risk of greenwashing accusations.

Solution

Used NetNada to calculate product-level carbon. Compared organic cotton t-shirt (2.8 kgCO2e) vs industry average conventional cotton (6.1 kgCO2e). Generated third-party verification report.

Result

Substantiated '54% lower carbon' claim with auditable data. Used carbon labels in marketing materials and e-commerce site.

Footwear Manufacturer (Manufacturing in Vietnam)

Challenge

Customer (major retailer) required emissions data per pair of shoes. Had factory energy data but no methodology to allocate to product units.

Solution

NetNada allocated factory electricity, natural gas, and diesel to production volumes. Calculated 3.2 kgCO2e per pair of sneakers including materials, manufacturing, and packaging.

Result

Submitted product-level emissions to customer. Won preferred supplier status. Now reports quarterly emissions per SKU.

SASB Disclosure Topics for Apparel, Accessories & Footwear

Material sustainability topics beyond emissions that investors and stakeholders expect disclosed per SASB standards.

Environmental Impacts in the Supply Chain

environment

Track water consumption, wastewater discharge, and hazardous waste from tier 1 and tier 2 manufacturing facilities. Monitor supplier compliance with environmental regulations in production countries.

Labor Conditions in the Supply Chain

social

Monitor working conditions, fair wages, and health & safety practices across manufacturing vendors. Track supplier social audits and corrective action plans.

Raw Materials Sourcing

environment

Report on use of sustainably sourced materials including organic cotton, recycled polyester, responsible down, and certified leather. Track traceability to farm or recycling facility.

Management of Chemicals in Products

environment

Monitor use of restricted substances (per ZDHC MRSL). Track chemical inventory at dyeing and finishing facilities. Ensure compliance with REACH, California Prop 65.

Product Quality & Safety

governance

Track product recalls, safety incidents, and quality control processes. Monitor compliance with consumer product safety regulations across jurisdictions.

Product Lifecycle Management

business model

Report on design for recyclability, take-back programs, and end-of-life product management. Track percentage of products designed for circularity.

NetNada tracks all SASB material topics, not just emissions. Our platform supports disclosure across environmental, social, governance, and business model topics relevant to your industry.

Apparel, Accessories & Footwear FAQs

Common questions about carbon accounting for this industry

How do you calculate emissions per garment when factories produce multiple products?
Three allocation methods: (1) Production volume (if all products similar complexity), (2) Economic value (revenue-weighted), (3) Physical attribute (weight or material input). SASB CG-AA allows any reasonable allocation method with disclosure of methodology used.
What if tier 2 suppliers don't track their own emissions?
Use tiered approach: (1) Request primary data from sophisticated suppliers (typically 10-20%), (2) Use supplier-specific estimates based on factory size, location, energy grid, and production process (60-70%), (3) Use industry average factors for small suppliers (10-20%). Disclose data quality per GHG Protocol Scope 3 standard.
Can you track emissions from different textile materials (cotton vs polyester)?
Yes. Built-in material emission factors: Conventional cotton 5.9 kgCO2e/kg, Organic cotton 2.1 kgCO2e/kg, Virgin polyester 5.5 kgCO2e/kg, Recycled polyester 2.7 kgCO2e/kg, Viscose 4.2 kgCO2e/kg, Wool 17.0 kgCO2e/kg. Source: Textile Exchange LCA.
How do you validate supplier data isn't greenwashing?
AI checks: (1) Emission intensity vs industry benchmarks by country and process type, (2) Year-over-year trends (flag if 50%+ drop without explanation), (3) Energy source mix plausibility (e.g., 100% renewable claim in coal-heavy grid = flag), (4) Third-party verification required for suppliers >$1M annual spend.
Does this work for accessories and footwear or just apparel?
Works for all SASB CG-AA industries: Apparel (garments), Accessories (handbags, jewelry, watches), Footwear (shoes, boots, sneakers). Emission factors include leather (17 kgCO2e/kg), rubber (3.5 kgCO2e/kg), metal hardware (varies by metal type).

Track Tier 2 Supplier Emissions Without Manual Spreadsheets

See how apparel brands engage 500+ manufacturers, calculate carbon per garment, and generate SASB CG-AA compliant disclosures—in 8 weeks.

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