Global Sustainable Textiles Market Report released

H&M was the biggest user of organic cotton worldwide in the second consecutive year in 2011, according to Textile Exchange´s latest Global Sustainable Textiles Market Report. “H&M’s ambitious program continues to drive demand for organic cotton and other more sustainable fibres. This supports farmers, encourages innovation and with its fashion forward Conscious Collections (picture), H&M lifts more sustainable fashion to scale. This strategic work serves as a model for adopting and expanding the use of greener materials in the fashion industry,” states LaRhea Pepper, Managing Director of Textile Exchange.
H&M has been using certified organic cotton since 2004, the company reports. “We plan to further increase our use of organic cotton in the future, beside making strong investments in Better Cotton and gradually increasing our use of recycled cotton,” says Henrik Lampa, Sustainability Manager Product at H&M.

The year 2011 was full of contradictions regarding the use of sustainable cotton, Textile Exchange reports. On one hand, as an interconnected group of industries, great advances were nade. The textile, apparel, and footwear industries continued to collaborate on and adopt game-changing programs like the Outdoor Industry Association’s Eco-Index (now the Sustainable Apparel Coalition Higg Index). Greenpeace’s Detox and Dirty Laundry campaigns led to the formation of the industry-led Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals program, a consortium of brands and retailers who have committed to zero discharge by 2020. This program began at the end of 2011, when committed brands collaborated and published a joint roadmap to achieve this ambitious goal.
These industries also rapidly embraced a broader cotton portfolio, one that spans certified organic cotton and non-genetically modified seed to initiatives that improve the way conventional cotton is farmed. On the other hand, some serious setbacks were suffered. These have been felt most acutely in the supply of certified organic cotton. For the first time in 10 years, organic cotton production dropped - by a whopping 37 %. The full Global Sustainable Textiles Market Report is available here.