The environmental benefits of the Elis model

Analyzing the life cycle of a workwear outfit

The product as a service business model is at the core of Elis’ business model. Renting and maintenance services of textiles are deeply embedded in our DNA. We are convinced of the benefits of our business model and its capacity to offer more sustainable solutions to our customers.  

To demonstrate this and to understand significant environmental aspects of the products and services provided to our customers, in 2023/2024 Elis has carried out a comparative Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of workwear for „Providing the wearer with a clean, dry working outfit 5 days per week, every week for 4 years’ service“. 

Wheel LCA Calculator

The LCA comparing renting and purchasing

The LCA compares 3 cleaning scenarios of a full workwear outfit (jacket and trousers) throughout its whole life cycle: the circular service model based on garment rental and laundry with scenarios where garments are purchased and cleaned at home or purchased and cleaned by a laundry service.

Environmental calculator

This innovation highlights the tangible environmental benefits of rental and maintenance services.

How does it work?

In just a few clicks, specify the service duration and the number of wearers… and the calculation is done! You can also download the results in PDF format. Try it now!

Environmental calculator
 

Key results

Our rental and maintenance model has a significantly lower environmental impact compared to purchasing. The study emphasizes the importance of extending the lifespan of garments to reduce their carbon footprint.

Thanks to the Elis model, which keeps products in use longer (lifespan extension, repairs, reuse...), CO₂ emissions can be reduced by up to 35%.

  • A circular model offers significant environmental benefits compared with purchasing textiles and washing at home or at a laundry cleaning service.  

  • The study highlights the importance of reducing the number of garments produced and stresses the potential of circular models to achieve this goal.  

  • The circular service provided by Elis has a lower impact on all indicators studied in this LCA compared to washing at home or at a laundry cleaning service.   

Infography_LCA

  • The methodology

    The LCA went through a critical review process in line with ISO 14071 requirements. Peer board members were LCA and washing industry experts.

    Main assumptions

    • At home: work garments are purchased by the employer and washed by the employee at home separately from private clothes, tumble dried and automatically renewed
    • At laundry: work garments are purchased by the employer and washed in a laundry. They are automatically renewed
    • Circular service scenario (Elis is used as a proxi): garments are rented. They are repaired and reused if the employee leaves the company or changes clothes.

    These results are indicative based on 1 jacket and 2 pairs of trousers per week per wearer. Sensitivity analysis has shown that the results do not significantly change if the number of changes per week is altered.

    The renewal frequency of the laundry and domestic scenarios were determined based on data collected covering different types of customers and purchase or rental models. The lifespan of the circular model is longer due to the maintenance in the rental model: at Elis each factory has a repair station, for example in 2023 in the Netherlands 365,000 garments out of 2.6 million were repaired and the garment reuse rate was over 40%.

    Methodology: Environmental Footprint 3.1 method in accordance with the principles and frameworks defined by the EN ISO 14040:2006, EN ISO 14044:2006/A2:2020 and ISO/TS 14071:2014 standards

    Database: Ecoinvent 3.9.1, ADEME and Elis specific data.