Fristads' environmentally declared workwear has enabled customers to significantly reduce the environmental impact of their workwear purchases. Based on the number of Fristads Green garments sold in 2025, customers saved enough water to fill 3,840 Olympic size swimming pools and CO2e emissions equaling 1,850 round-trip flights between Helsinki and Munich*.
The savings were calculated using Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), third-party verified documents that measure a garment's environmental impact across its entire lifecycle - from raw material production and manufacturing to use and end of life.
"Reducing climate impact starts with measuring it," said Petra Öberg Gustafsson, Managing Director at Fristads. "EPDs give our customers transparent, reliable data that allows them to compare products and make informed decisions that reduce both emissions and resource use."
Measuring the impact of workwear
Fristads became the first company in the world to introduce an Environmental Product Declaration for clothing in 2019 and remains the only workwear manufacturer to apply EPDs to its products. Based on the EPD data, Fristads has been able to target the largest sources of emissions throughout the production process and develop workwear with a lower environmental impact than conventionally produced garments - Fristads Green.
In 2025 alone, Fristads' customers combined saved approximately 9.6 million cubic metres of water and 1,183 tons of CO2e by choosing Fristads Green products, compared with conventionally produced garments. That roughly equals 3,840 Olympic size swimming pools and 1,850 round-trip flights between Helsinki and Munich respectively.
"Workwear may seem like a small part of a company's environmental footprint, but when you look at the scale of industrial procurement, the impact quickly becomes significant," said Petra Öberg Gustafsson. "By combining durable design with measurable environmental data, we help our customers reduce their climate impact while maintaining the safety and performance they depend on."
Supporting customers' climate goals
Today, Fristads Green-garments are available across all major product categories, including the construction, service and industry sectors, as well as high-visibility and weather protection garments. This autumn, Fristads is expanding the concept into one of the most technically demanding product segments: multinorm protective clothing, with the upcoming Multinorm Green collection.
By providing verified environmental data for each garment, EPDs help customers compare products, justify purchasing decisions and incorporate workwear data into their sustainability reporting, including Scope 3 emissions. Fristads has even developed a digital tool - Green Calculator - to make it easier for customers to see the impact of their workwear choices. The company also provides a five-step checklist that helps organisations reduce environmental impact through their purchasing decisions.
"Workwear is a part of our customers' climate impact, but also a possibility. With concrete data on CO2e emissions and water consumption during a garment's entire lifecycle, it is possible for the customer to make informed decisions," said Petra Öberg Gustafsson.
Part of the sustainability strategy
Growing the share of environmentally declared Fristads Green garments is part of Fristads' overall sustainability strategy and the goal to reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030, compared with the base year 2022.
With the expansion of EPDs across its collections, Fristads continues to lead the way towards change in the workwear industry.
"Our ambition is not only to reduce our own footprint, but also to raise the bar for the entire industry," says Petra Öberg Gustafsson. "Credible sustainability starts with reliable data. Once you can measure the impact, you can also reduce it."
Read more about Fristads' sustainability work in the 2025 Sustainability Report, which was recently published.
*Source: https://www.openco2.net/en/co2-converter/
Attachment
- This is how much CO2 and water Fristads and their customers saved in 2025
