H&M disclosing to customers where their clothes were made

Swedish fast fashion retailer H&M announced it will add more information to its products on its website later this month as part of a move to create greater product transparency.

The new information will allow H&M customers to find out which factory produced a given garment, the material composition and solutions for re-using and recycling products that are worn-out, the company stated on its latest sustainability report.

According to H&M, the company is making strong progress toward its goal to use 100 per cent recycled or other sustainably-sourced materials by 2030.

H&M said it saw a 35 per cent increase in its goal to use recycled and other sustainably sourced materials for products, with 57 per cent of all materials classified as “sustainable” in 2018.

The equivalent figure for cotton was 95 per cent, close to the company’s goal to reach 100 per cent next year.

“Recycled materials are truly a win-win: they stop waste material from going to landfill and reduce the use of virgin raw materials,” said Cecilia Brännsten, H&M’s environmental sustainability manager.

“However, for many types of textiles, viable recycling solutions either do not exist or are not commercially available on a large scale.”

Brännsten said the company has been collaborating with scientists and innovators to increase alternative sustainably sourced materials as quickly as possible.

H&M has also reported it has reduced its CO2 emissions from operations by a further 11 per cent and has set additional green goals, such as reducing the absolute greenhouse gas emissions in the company’s operations by another 40 per cent by 2030.

The new goals, which are part of H&M’s vision to become climate positive by 2040, were approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative.

The company said it also wanted all packaging used to be made of 100 per cent recycled or sustainably sourced materials by 2030, a goal which is part of a newly developed packaging strategy.