UK's Everledger & AWI use blockchain to trace wool supply chain

Information has been captured along the wool supply chain to enable verifiable provenance and chain of custody using blockchain technology, Everledger and AWI said in a joint media release.

In line with AWI’s strategic response to enabling material traceability, capturing the flow of wool information enables verifiable claims of origin and sustainability, supports biosecurity efforts, and can deliver compliance and ESG reporting efficiencies. This offers value to all parties, whether that is attracting new buyers or higher prices for growers, enabling verifiable information for certifiers and regulators, or equipping apparel brands to have a robust point of difference with their finished garments.

Merino sheep are celebrated globally for producing the world’s finest, softest and most beautiful wool. Australia produces around 90 per cent of the world's fine apparel wool and this makes significant contributions to the Australian economy. The fibre is natural, renewable and biodegradable. Many Australian woolgrowers are able to demonstrate that their farms can sequester carbon, increase biodiversity and strengthen climate resilience - but many of these important messages are not making it to market, or if they are, lack the substantiation to make the claims credible.

The proof-of-concept involved seven distinct supply chains tracing from wool growers, through brokers and export, to scouring, combing, spinning and dyeing, to weaving or knitting and the final product. It worked closely with all parties in those supply chains, as well as end-consumer brands, to understand the nature of business processes, the data available, and the types of claims different parties wished to make. Key to the success was establishing a prototype tool that enables upstream or downstream supply chain participants to invite associated parties, helping to navigate supply chain opacity in a trustworthy manner.

The information supplied was grounded in blockchain, offering immutable records authored by each party to be stitched together to create a full picture. The solution enables retailers or end consumers to be able to verify where and when the original wool was produced, and key stages in its journey to market.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)