On the way towards sourcing 100% sustainable materials

This is an important part of our mission to make sustainable fashion and design available for everyone today, tomorrow and for generations to come.

When it comes to cotton, 95% of our cotton is either recycled or sourced in a more sustainable way. This means that we are close to reaching our goal of sourcing 100% preferred cotton (organic cotton, recycled cotton and Better Cotton sourced through the Better Cotton Initiative) by 2020. Monki is already there and has since autumn 2018 sourced all of its cotton in a more sustainable way. In 2020, this will be reality for the entire H&M group across all brands. According to Textile Exchange, H&M group is the biggest buyer of preferred cotton in the world, which includes recycled, organic and cotton from the Better Cotton Initiative. We are the second biggest user of recycled and organic cotton.

As part of our 2030 goal, saying that all our materials should either be recycled or sourced in a more sustainable way, we are now beginning to gradually phase out conventional cashmere. For example, H&M will stop placing orders on conventional cashmere at the end of next year. While cashmere is popular for its soft texture and known as a high-quality material, it comes with both environmental and animal welfare challenges.

We will continue to work for a more transparent supply chain, where cashmere is sourced from sustainable sources that are independently certified by standards that cover both animal welfare and environmental aspects. If the cashmere industry in the future would meet our sustainability criteria, we could consider turning to virgin cashmere again. Besides our work to improve the industry, we will also continue to look at alternatives with an equally great feel and value to customers as cashmere, but with less environmental impacts.