Environmental sustainability is gaining more and more relevance for textile companies. However, there are often problems with application, even in the most committed companies. In this paper, an empirical typology of Italian textile firms that discern the patterns of practices used in response to environmental issues and concerns that affect such industry is proposed. The resulting typology is composed by three types: Best practice, Good practice and Bad practice. Each type is then characterised in terms of firm’s characteristics and perceived environmental competitiveness benefits. The discussion of some open issues deriving from the empirical analysis precedes the final conclusion.