Circularity

Fast depletion of natural resources, inadequate global systems for circulating products and materials, and a growing global waste problem are major risks for our planet and our business. Our use of resources negatively impacts the environment and people across our value chain.

At H&M Group, we recognise our responsibility and the opportunity to act. We are reducing our reliance on new materials by shifting towards recycled or responsibly sourced alternatives. We optimise our production processes, design products and packaging with circularity in mind, and develop innovative solutions to help customers extend product life. By collaborating with industry partners and stakeholders, we are building stronger circular systems to secure resources for the future and protect our environment.

Materials

We focus on increasing the use of recycled or sustainably sourced materials across our value chain. Through investment and industry collaboration, we help to scale innovative and alternative materials and reduce the impact of the materials we use.

Business optimisation

By optimising our assortment planning and aligning production with demand, we reduce waste and improve resource efficiency across our supply chain.

Product and packaging design

We strive to maximise the value of resources and products by keeping them in use for longer. We do this by embedding circular principles into the design of our products and packaging, ensuring they are used for longer and easier to reuse and recycle.

Extending customer use

Through customer-facing circular business models we aim to offer customers ways to prolong the life of our products, keeping them in use for longer and reducing waste.

Waste prevention and management

We focus on reducing waste where possible and ensuring that our waste is properly handled in line with the waste hierarchy. We aim for zero waste to end up in landfills, and that we recirculate products and materials at their highest value.

Building a circular ecosystem is a continuous journey with many interdependencies both within and outside H&M Group.

• We are aligning supply and demand, and increasing material efficiency. We invest in AI and tech tools for improved planning and accuracy, and customer centricity.
• Using fewer materials, improving resource efficiency and expanding circular solutions begins with how we design our products. However, the lack of industry standards presents a challenge. We collaborate with brands and experts, such as the Circular Design Consortium and Ellen MacArthur Foundation to develop circular design methods, grow circular product design, share knowledge and address common challenges. As a voting member of the PEFCR Apparel & Footwear technical secretariat, we contribute to developing a common EU method for sharing product impact information. This framework also helps us to improve transparency.
• Our goal is for 100% of our materials to be either recycled or sustainably sourced by 2030, including our ambition for 50% recycled materials. We test, invest in and scale more innovative materials through our brands, Circular Innovation Lab, H&M Group Ventures, and green investments — for example, investments in Infinited Fiber Company, TreeToTextile, and Fairbrics — and bridge the commercialisation gap through our supply chain network.
• We test, invest in and scale innovative production processes that can lower use of water, energy and chemicals — such as dyeing, washing and finishing — through our brands, Circular Innovation Lab, H&M Group Ventures, and green investments. These include investments in Colorifix and Alchemie Technology, and investments in pilots such as with Recycrom.
• We offer use and care advice, information, and products across our brands to prolong the life of our products.
• We offer remake advice, information and services across our brands to prolong the life of our products — for example through COS Full Circle and its partnership with The Seam, H&M Take Care, and ARKET repair partners.
• We increase access to, and invest in, piloting and scaling customer-facing circular business models, such as resell, across H&M Group in stores and online. These include Sellpy, H&M Preloved, ARKET Archive, COS Full Circle, COS Restore and COS Resell, and in-store second hand at Weekday and Monki.
• We support scaling technology and infrastructure to collect and sort products and materials — we collect used textiles at our brands and sort them so they can be circulated at their highest value for reuse and recycling.
• We support scaling technology and infrastructure to recycle and circulate materials at their highest value. We invest in recycling technology and infrastructure with partners including Infinited Fiber Company and Ambercycle. We focus on textile waste in production, post–consumer textiles, and collaboration to advance progress.

We know a lot about the environmental impact of a circular fashion industry, but we have lots to learn about the impact on people, including understanding what it means for jobs across the fashion value chain.

In 2021, we worked with several partners on Keeping Workers in the Loop. This report looked at the impact on employment of moving to a circular fashion system and recommended how to create a just, fair and inclusive fashion industry. Since it was launched, we have worked with the report’s key learnings to build our knowledge and to define how we can secure fair and equal circular jobs across our value chain.