Waste
Circular Economy

NEW: Could financial incentives be the key to engaging consumers in sustainability? ... H&M's latest Garment Collecting Initiative suggests so, saving 25 million t-shirts worth of textiles. Ulrika Isaksson explains.

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Circular economy NEW: Could financial incentives be the key to engaging consumers in sustainability? H&M's latest Garment Collecting Initiative suggests so, saving 25 million t-shirts worth of textiles. Ulrika Isaksson explains. denim jeans Denim jeans containing material from the Garment Collective Initiative. Key facts Company name: H&M Sector/industry: Fashion retailing Turnover: Sales including VAT SEK 150 billion Location: 54 markets worldwide with head office in Stockholm, Sweden. Name of project/initiative/campaign: H&M Garment Collecting Area of focus: Garment recycling systems aiming for closing the loop on textile fibres.

Project summary

95% of textiles and clothes that are thrown away globally can be used again

H&M was the first fashion company to launch a Garment Collecting Initiative worldwide and in February 2014 the first products containing material from this initiative was launched. We want to offer an easy solution for our customers to leave their old garments with H&M and at the same time do something good for the environment. The initiative is foremost an environmental project aiming to avoid waste and minimize the waste that go to landfill. The long-term goal is to find a solution for refusing and recycling all textile fibre for new use.

What was the challenge?

Our sustainability efforts are rooted in a dedication to social and environmental responsibility that places us at the forefront of the global fashion industry. All our operations should be run in a way that is that is economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. This means that the needs of both present and future generations should be respected in everything we do.

H&M wants to avoid creating waste wherever possible and to reduce the environmental impact from the fashion industry by limiting the amount of textiles that end up in landfills. This helps save money and natural resources. For waste that cannot be avoided, we need to make sure to reuse and recycle as much as possible.

95% of textiles and clothes that are thrown away globally can be used again. Today there is only a small amount of clothing being reused for charity or for recycling. As an example, in Sweden around 8 kg of garments are thrown away per person and year. That’s why we want to offer an easy solution for the customer that today throws their old clothes in the garbage.

This is is also an important step in our mission to create a closed loop on textiles with the aim to use even more material from recycled post-consumer and less virgin materials in the future.

garment collecting box
H&M customers receive one voucher for each shopping bag of clothes that is handed in.

Actions taken

Since February 2013 H&M is collecting clothes in our stores globally. Any piece of clothing, of any brand, and in any condition is welcome. The customer gets one voucher for each shopping bag of clothes that is handed in. The voucher is valid in the country where the garments were handed in and there is a maximum of 2 vouchers per day and customer. For example, in the UK the customer gets a £5 voucher on a buy over £30 that can be redeemed at the next purchase. When full, the I:CO containers are collected from our stores and brought to the nearest sorting plant. After this the textiles are sorted and evaluated against over 400 different criteria. The products are classified, depending on the quality of the product, as followed; re-wear, re-use, recycle and energy.

The different assortment categories are listed below:

• Re-wear: Clothing still suitable for wear is marketed worldwide as second hand goods.

• Re-use: Textiles no longer suitable for wear are converted into other products such as cleaning cloths.

• Recycle: Textiles that can’t be re-used get a new chance as textile fibers or are used to manufacture products such as damping and insulating materials in the auto industry.

• Energy: When re-wear, re-use and recycle are not options, textiles are used to produce energy.

For each kilo we collect we will donate 2 euro cent to charity organizations chosen by our local sales market. Our long term aim is to find a solution for reusing and recycling all textile fiber for new use and to use yarns made out of collected textiles to our products.

H&M support the research to find new innovations and ways to reuse and recycle more textiles. We have already taken the next step in our mission to create a closed loop and have made the first products with at least 20% recycled material from collected garments. These five denim products reached H&M stores worldwide in early 2014.

Results

Since the launch of the Garment Collecting Initiative in spring 2013 we have collected nearly 5000 tons of textiles. That’s as much textile fabrics as in 25 million T-shirts.

Our Garment Collecting Initiative is also a step in our mission to create a closed loop and we have made the first products with at least 20% recycled material from collected garments.

In the end of February 2014 H&M launched the first products made of recycled textile fibres from garments collected in the Garment Collecting Initiative, called “Close the loop”. The collection included five classic denim pieces, such as jeans and jackets, made from recycled cotton. It serves as an example of how H&M is closing the loop on textiles. The collection was available on all H&M’s markets from week 9, 2014.

The aim is to use more material from recycled post-consumer in the future and find new ways to make this happen. Long term we want to find a solution for reusing and recycling all textile fibres for new use.

Lessons learnt

The Garment Collecting Initiative has been well received by our customers and we hope to be able to scale it up. We are also planning new fashion collections and products containing material from the Garment Collecting Initiative.

Next steps

We are now planning to increase the use of recycled material from collected garments even more and support the research needed to make this happen. New products containing material from the Garment Collective Initiative will be launched. Our final ambition and goal is to close the loop on all textile fibre.

This is also why we in 2013 joined the Circular Economy 100 which is a global platform initiated by the Ellen McArthur Foundation that brings together leading companies, emerging innovators and many more to accelerate the transition to a circular economy. It aims to develop system-level solutions addressing resource scarcity, which is in line with our aim to close the loop on textile fibres.

Additional resources http://about.hm.com/en/About/sustainability.html