H&M releases sustainability report

H&M has published its Conscious Actions Sustainability Report 2013. The company has doubled the share of more sustainable cotton in the last two years and is on target with 15.8% of the cotton being certified organic, Better Cotton or recycled. The goal is that all cotton should come from more sustainable sources by 2020 at the latest. More sustainable fabrics now represent 11% of their products’ total material use - up from 9.1% in 2012. H&M has also launched its first products made with organic leather and organic silk. The amount of recycled polyester used in H&M´s garments is equivalent to 9.5 million PET bottles.
 

Other highlights in the report include a fair living wage roadmap that was launched, enabling suppliers to pay higher wages to their workers. Close to 100% of H&M stores worldwide participate in their global garment collecting initiative with the goal to create a closed loop for textiles. 3,047 tonnes of no longer wanted garments were collected. The first closed loop products were launched, made with 20% recycled material from collected garments. H&M started to implement a water strategy developed together with WWF and was the first brand to sign the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. The report and a summary of its highlights are available to read and download here.