LCI METHODOLOGY AND DATABASES Effect of methodological choice on the estimated impacts of wool production and the significance for LCA-based rating systems Stephen G. Wiedemann 1 & Aaron Simmons 2 & Kalinda J. L. Watson 1 & Leo Biggs 1 Received: 14 May 2018 /Accepted: 4 October 2018 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract Purpose One aim of LCA-based rating tools developed by the apparel industry is to promote a change in demand for textiles by influencing consumer preferences based on the environmental footprint of textiles. Despite a growing consensus that footprints developed using attributional LCA (aLCA) are not suitable to inform decisions that will impact supply and demand, these tools continue to use aLCA. This paper analyses the application of the LCA methods to wool production, specifically the application of aLCA methods that provide a retrospective assessment of impacts and consequential (cLCA) methods that estimate the impacts of a change. Methods Attributional and consequential life cycle inventories (LCIs) were developed and analysed to examine how the different methodological approaches affect the estimated environmental impacts of wool. Results and discussion Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) of aLCI and cLCI for wool indicates that estimated global warming and water stress impacts may be considerably lower for additional production of wool, as estimated by cLCIA, than for current production as estimated by aLCIA. However, fossil resource impacts for additional production may be greater than for current production when increased wool production was assumed to displace dedicated sheep meat production. Conclusions This work supports the notion that the use of a retrospective assessment method (i.e. aLCA) to produce information that will guide consumer preferences may not adequately represent the impacts of a consumer’ s choice because the difference between aLCIA and cLCIA results may be relatively large. As such, rating tools based on attributional LCA are unlikely to be an adequate indicator of the sustainability of textiles used in the apparel industry. Keywords Apparel . Attributional life cycle assessment . cLCA . Consequential life cycle assessment . Fabric . Wool . Higg MSI aLCA . Life cycle assessment 1 Introduction Environmental impacts are an unavoidable effect of any in- dustry, with many industries striving for ongoing improve- ment required to meet legislative requirements and consumer expectations. The global textile and apparel industry con- sumes significant volumes of natural resources and fossil fuels for raw material production, processing and use of apparel that generate environmental impacts across the product life cycle. The environmental impact of textiles is dependent on the type of fibre from which the apparel is made (Muthu 2015), the manufacturing and processing techniques and the length of time that apparel spend in use prior to disposal. Because of the long supply chain and its ability to provide a comprehen- sive view of the environmental aspects of the product and/or processes, life cycle assessment (LCA) is a useful tool for understanding and improving the sustainability of the textile and apparel supply chain. Accordingly, the LCA approach has been adopted as a primary means for determining the sustain- ability of apparel, with non-government organisations (e.g. Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) and MADE-BY), implementing LCA as the basis for their respective rating systems. These rating systems are used to determine which textiles are environmentally ‘superior ’ or ‘inferior ’ fabric types based on their environmental impacts (Sustainable Responsible editor: Adriana Del Borghi * Aaron Simmons aaron.simmons@dpi.nsw.gov.au 1 Integrity Ag and Environment, 36a Highfields Road, Highfields, QLD 4352, Australia 2 NSW Department of Primary Industries, Orange Agricultural Institute, 1447 Forest Rd, Orange, NSW 2800, Australia The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-018-1538-5