H&M Reports 57% of All Materials Used in Production are Sustainable

H&M Group recently announced that 57% of all materials it uses to make its products are created using recycled or other sustainably sourced fibers.

The company’s recently-released sustainability report covers the progress towards only using recycled and other sustainably sourced materials. In 2018, this was the case for 57% of all materials, which is an increase from 35% in one year. The equivalent figure for cotton was 95%, close to the company's goal to reach 100% next year.

The report also reveals that later in April, H&M and H&M Home will add more information to its products on hm.com, making it possible for customers to find out in which factory their favorites were produced, as well as further information on material composition and solutions for reusing and recycling products that are worn-out.

Reaching the first milestone in the Fair Living Wage strategy, the company is now reflecting on the first five years of its work and deciding on future steps. H&M Group is witnessing progress when it comes to wage levels and has disclosed specific wage data, but since further steps forward will require industry solutions, the company is also focusing on building industry collaborations. Therefore, 22 brands and IndustriALL, a global trade union representing the textile workers, have come together within the collaboration platform ACT aiming to create a system change and to transform the textile industry by promoting collective bargaining agreements, that are supported by brands' responsible purchasing practices. The brands within ACT have signed a Memorandum of Understanding which commits them to ensure that their purchasing practices facilitate the payment of a living wage.

Further highlights From H&M Sustainability Report include:

• H&M Group reduced the CO2 emissions from its operations by a further 11%.
• To take this even further, new goals were set, for example, to reduce the absolute GHG-emissions in the company's own operations by another 40% by 2030. The new goals, which are part of the vision to become climate positive by 2040, were approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative.
• The Take Care concept went from an initial pilot to now having been launched in further four markets, offering customers guidance, repair services, and products to care for their garments so they can live a longer life.
• H&M Group set a new goal that all packaging used should be made of 100% recycled or sustainably sourced materials by 2030, a goal which is part of a newly developed packaging strategy.
• H&M Group developed a new water roadmap, supported by WWF, including the goals to reduce water usage by 25% in production and to recycle 15% of wastewater back into production processes by 2022.
• In June, the company launched Afound; a brand with the mission of giving unsold products a new life.
• 95% of all cotton used by H&M Group came from recycled or sustainable sources.
• 57% of all the materials used by H&M Group came from recycled or sustainable sources.
• 655 factories and 930,000 garment workers were covered by one or both of H&M Group's key programs for workplace dialogue and wage management systems (84% of the product volume).
• H&M Group accelerated its work with AI to make it easier to ensure a good match between production and demand, thus saving energy, transport and resources.

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