Materials

Materials such as cotton, polyester or man-made cellulosic fibres such as viscose are used in our garments and products. How they are grown, obtained, made or recycled shapes the environmental and social footprint they leave across supply chains and communities. This means that we need to consider material choices with the help of material criteria, industry tools and risk information.

At H&M Group, we set requirements for the materials used in our products and packaging to guide material-related risk management and resource use. Material decisions influence the wider product journey and the practical limits of keeping products and packaging in use for longer, which is why we use defined sourcing requirements to guide material choices across products and packaging.

Material choices influence several stages of a product’s journey, from how long it lasts to how easily it can be reused or recycled, and what happens at the end of its life. The materials we choose affect design and longevity, the possibility of repair, rental and resale services, and the chemicals and water used in processing, as well as the way waste is managed.

We consider a range of factors when deciding which materials to use in our products and packaging. Depending on the material, these can include how it is grown, produced and processed, how it performs during use, and available information about recycling after use.

The inputs used vary by material. These can include information about environmental, social and animal-welfare risks in the supply chain, industry tools and assessment methods, sourcing requirements, and certification schemes. One tool we use is the Fiber & Materials Matrix, developed by Textile Exchange, a global non-profit organisation that provides tools and resources, including industry standards and certification programmes. The Matrix provides information about different fibres and materials that we consider alongside other inputs.

We assess this information alongside its scope, methodology, data quality and limitations. No single tool, data source, standard or certification gives a complete picture, so we draw on multiple sources to help identify potential risks, understand where stronger safeguards may be needed to inform our material decisions.

We regularly map and prioritise the risks associated with the materials we source for our products. This page focuses on reported progress and examples of actions we are taking in our own operations and value chain.

H&M Group’s annual and sustainability report is the primary source for our material targets, methodology, definitions, and latest results. For the full target wording and methodology, see our annual and sustainability report.

We use a range of natural, recycled and man-made materials across our products. Cotton remained our dominant material in 2025, with recycled materials making up around one-third of the materials used across our products.

In our 2025 annual and sustainability report, we reported:

 

Our material-related work includes partnerships and collaborations focused on recycled materials, including textile-to-textile recycling. Here are some of the initiatives and collaborations we’ve taken part in.

• Co-founded Syre, a company focused on textile-to-textile recycled polyester and entered into a seven-year USD 600 million offtake agreement (a binding agreement to buy or sell goods or energy before production), alongside investment in its first production facilities.
• Signed a multi-year sourcing partnership with Circulose, a textile-to-textile recycling company producing CIRCULOSE®, a recycled dissolving pulp made from discarded cotton-rich textiles and used to produce man-made cellulosic fibres such as viscose and lyocell.
• Established Looper Textile Co., a joint venture with REMONDIS, a recycling and waste management company, to sort and prepare post-consumer textiles at industrial scale for reuse and recycling.
• Collaborate with innovators such as Recover™, RE&UP and Loopamid® on pre- and post-consumer recycled fibres across cotton and synthetic materials.
• Invest in selected natural fibre innovation projects, including research into hydroponic cotton systems (a soilless cultivation method where water and nutrients are delivered directly to the roots, allowing precise control and reducing reliance on farmable land). These projects explore different cultivation methods and how they may affect factors such as water and land use.
• Work with selected wool sourcing programmes such as NATIVA™, which includes requirements on soil and land management, farmer working and living conditions, and animal welfare. Wool from NATIVA™ also complies with Textile Exchange’s Responsible Wool Standard.

When it comes to initiatives and collaborations in material sourcing and standards, we:

• Support cotton and wool programmes focused on agricultural practices related to soil health, water use and climate-related risks such as drought, pests and water scarcity, as well as activities related to farmer livelihoods. In 2025 we invested in two new projects to scale these practices together with the non-profit organisation Better Cotton Initiative and The Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH), including the Gujarat Regenerative Agriculture Project and Regenerative Production Landscape Collective (RPLC) aimed at reaching 35,000 farmers.
• Use certified recycled fibres, such as those verified to Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) or Global Recycled Standard (GRS), where applicable and available. These standards are from the non-profit organisation Textile Exchange.
• Use organic cotton certified to recognised standards such as GOTS¹ (Global Organic Textile Standard) and OCS² (Organic Content Standard). For selected organic cotton sourcing, we are a member of the Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA), a programme that brings farmers, suppliers and participating brands together. Through OCA, farmers may receive training, access to organic inputs and premium payments, while purchasing brands gain more insight into how selected organic cotton is grown.
• Source 100% of our man-made cellulosic fibres (MMCF) from fibre producers independently verified as achieving the highest performing category in Canopy’s Hot Button Report. The report discloses results related to risk for sourcing from ancient and endangered forests.
• Use animal fibres from farms certified to established animal welfare standards, including Responsible Wool Standard (RWS)³, a standard ensuring wool fibre comes from farms certified to animal welfare and land management requirements and Responsible Mohair Standard (RMS)⁴. Products certified to the Responsible Mohair Standard (RMS) contain mohair fibre from farms certified to animal welfare and land management requirements.

Alongside animal welfare standards we also use recycled animal fibres where these meet product quality requirements.

• Use animal fibres from Good Cashmere Standard⁶, an independent standard that certifies cashmere production based on animal welfare, environmental protection, and working conditions for herders. The Good Cashmere Standard® is owned by the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) and sets out requirements on animal welfare, land management and herders working conditions.
• Shifted our down and feather sourcing to only sourcing post-consumer recycled sources.
• Maintain bans on fur, exotic skins, angora and materials from endangered species.

In 2025, paper made up 58 percent of packaging materials, cardboard 23 percent, plastic 12 percent, wood 6 percent and other materials 1 percent.

Packaging work included using recycled or certified materials where available and suitable, while recognising that availability, quality and cost vary by region and material type.

Cotton is our most used material, accounting for 56 percent of the material in our products. It is also one of the most complex, with environmental and social risks in its production. In 2025, 100 percent of the cotton used in our products was sourced in line with our sourcing requirements.

We source cotton through different production systems used across the industry. These include recycled cotton, which reduces the need for virgin fibre; organic cotton, grown according to organic standards that restrict the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilisers; and cotton sourced through the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), which works with farmers and other actors on agricultural practices and farmer livelihoods. Each system has different characteristics and levels of traceability. Beyond these production systems, cotton sourcing continues to evolve. The availability of different types of cotton varies significantly, and no single approach addresses all environmental and social risks.

In 2025, 12 percent of the cotton we used was recycled. Recycled cotton remains limited in the wider fibre market, accounting for around 1 percent of global fibre production, according to Textile Exchange.

For BCI cotton, traceability also depends on the sourcing model used. BCI cotton has often been sourced through a mass balance system, where BCI cotton is bought through the wider supply chain but is not physically kept separate from other cotton. This means it cannot be traced to individual products. We now also source traceable BCI Cotton, which provides a higher level of traceability than mass balance and supports our work to improve traceability and supply chain transparency.

Cotton supply chains remain complex, and progress depends on credible standards, data and wider industry collaboration. As farming approaches that support soil health and help farmers manage climate-related pressures, such as drought, pests and water scarcity, continue to evolve, we support initiatives such as the Organic Cotton Accelerator and projects focused on soil health and climate-related challenges

Leather is known for its longevity. While it only makes up 0.1 percent of the materials we source, it has significant environmental and social impacts, including deforestation, transparency, traceability, animal welfare and human rights risks. We are a member of the Leather Working Group, a global not-for-profit multi-stakeholder organisation, to address deforestation, transparency, traceability and human rights risks in the leather supply chain.

Synthetic fibres made up around 27 percent of the materials used in our products in 2025, mainly polyester at 23 percent and polyamide at 4 percent. They can add stretch, longevity, water resistance, and a quick-drying quality to the garment. Because many conventional synthetics are fossil-based, recycled alternatives are an important part of our material approach. In 2025, 100 percent of the polyester sourced for our products was recycled.

Viscose, lyocell and modal are all types of man-made cellulosic fibres (MMCF). MMCF is mainly made from wood pulp, which means forest-related sourcing risks need to be managed. We require our suppliers to source virgin MMCF from fibre producers with a Green Shirt rating in Canopy’s CanopyStyle Hot Button Report. The report assesses MMCF producers’ forest sourcing, including risks related to sourcing from ancient and endangered forests. A Green Shirt rating indicates that, based on Canopy’s assessment, the producer has met the report’s forest sourcing criteria for lower forest-sourcing risk. Canopy is a non-profit organisation working with brands, producers and other stakeholders on forest conservation and fibre sourcing.

Alongside these sourcing requirements, we also have offtake agreements for alternatives to wood pulp-based MMCF, including CIRCULOSE®, which is made using recycled textile waste.

Materials such as wool, down and feathers come from animals, so animal welfare is an important consideration when sourcing them — how they are sourced affects how animals are bred, kept, handled and cared for. We set requirements for these materials at the raw material stage, using recognised animal welfare standards. Where suitable recycled options are available, we prefer them to virgin animal-derived materials.

All virgin wool and animal hair used by H&M Group must come from farms certified to recognised standards listed in the references below^{3 4 5 6}, depending on the material. Recycled wool and animal hair may come from pre- or post-consumer recycled sources and must be certified to GRS (Global Recycled Standard) or RCS (Recycled Claim Standard). All down and feathers we use must be post-consumer recycled and certified to GRS or RCS.

We do not use virgin down or feathers, real animal fur, exotic skins, skins from wild animals, angora rabbit hair or hair from animals reared in cages for their hair.

We also work with industry peers, such as Textile Exchange, and animal welfare experts such as the animal welfare organisation, Four Paws, to help improve animal welfare standards across the industry. For beauty products, we follow the EU Cosmetic Regulation’s ban on animal testing, wherever our products are made or sold.