I Cant Decide If I Hate H&M

H&M was the only brand to score over 70 in the 2020 Fashion Transparency Index

In the Fashion Transparency Index 2020 H&M was the highest scoring brand at 73%. There’s a stubborn fire in me that starts to burn when I see H&M being rewarded or promoted as in any way sustainable or doing a good thing. But I always try to see past my emotions and seek the truth, is H&M evil or are they ok?.. Are they setting an example?.. Are they innovative?.. Or is it just smart business?

Australians buy an average of 27 kilograms of new textiles each year and then discard an average of 23 kilograms into landfill – and two-thirds of those discards are manmade synthetic/plastic fibres that may never breakdown.

(Australian Bureau Statistics)

Recycling initiative

Starting in 2013; H&M’s recycling initiative was one of the first major/fast fashion brands to start a system where customers could bring back unwanted clothing to store to be ‘recycled’ by the brand. In exchange the customer gets a discount towards their next purchase. This initiative has been replicated by many brands around the world.

How much of this is actually recycled?

‘All clothes collected by H&M are either reused, reworn or recycled with 0% going to landfill.’ (H&M.com). Now what this statement is saying is that H&M doesn’t send anything directly to landfill. ‘60% of what is donated is still wearable and gets donated to second hand clothing charities’. It is well known that charities are unable to sell or find owners for the massive influx of donations and inevitably send a lot of garments to landfill.

This leaves 40% that is recycled. But not all fabrics can be recycled.

Fabric recycling is a young and rapidly growing industry with technologies constantly improving and changing the possibilities. Currently only virgin fibres can be recycled. This means fibres can only be recycled once as the process shortens and therefore weakens the fibre. Only 20% of the new garment can be made up of recycled fibre the remaining 80% must be virgin. Also currently blended fibre fabrics cannot be recycled, as the science to separate the fibres does not exist. E.g. a garment made of 50% polyester 50% cotton cannot be recycled. H&M has joined with Kering and a number of other companies to found a company called Worn Again, which is currently raising funds and researching to develop a way to recycle blended fibres. For the product not fit for recycling: ‘Currently the most worn-out cotton items head to a shredder, where they are gradually broken down and repackaged into bales of fluff, and become wipes and cleaning cloths. The absurd amount of dust produced by the sorting, shredding, and baling is sucked up into brickettes and sold to the paper industry'

Supply Chain

H&M now lists the name of the primary supplier for each item. I love this concept and have praised brands for doing it before as it shows accountability. It is important to always be aware that the ‘primary supplier’ for a garment can often do very little of the work actually involved in the production. For example for a t-shirt to be made you must consider the cotton farm, the spinner, the factory knitting the fabric, the dye house, the fabric finishing, the cutters, the sewers, the possibilities can be huge for the amount of people and businesses touched by a product. The primary supplier can even outsource their own orders if they are over capacity, laws generally state that the primary supplier simply has to sew the labels on the garment and pack them in the box.

In 2020 H&M also started their new B2B business Treadler which ‘will be offering other companies access to its global supply chain, expertise, long-term partnerships and sustainability strategies. It will initially work on smaller-scale projects tailored to suit the need of each company, covering the eco-friendliness of all supply chain operations from product development to sourcing and logistics.’ So far there are very little details released about this new company, there are certainly already many sustainability consultancies available to fashion companies and it seems to be a great marketing move and business extension for H&M at this point.

Pricing

I see the H&M pricing as unethical from two standpoints, the first being that it encourages the consumer to buy more and over consume. The second point is that I will always question if this is a substantial amount to be paying the supplier. H&M will be forever fighting bad press with glossy marketing and new initiatives but at the end of the day I do not believe this is a fair amount to pay someone to make a garment. It encourages risky practises from the supplier to keep up with demand.

Energy

H&M has set the goal to be carbon neutral by 2030. This is one initiative I don’t question. Every brand should be doing this, as it is vital for the preservation of our environment. I actually think that this should be the bare minimum required by every brand as shown by the IPCC Climate Change Report ‘By 2030 we need to be carbon neutral, by 2055 we need to be carbon absorbing OR by 2100 we will have caused catastrophic effects on the climate.’

In this article I have unpacked just a few of H&M’s main claims to sustainability, the company has a huge and complex web of initiatives, philanthropy and connected businesses that can be assessed. I have talked to many people with varying opinions on H&M and I am currently sitting on the conclusion that at the end of the day producing clothing not made to last in quality or in aesthetic is unethical. Producing clothing at this volume does not provide a healthy future for our planet.

"I don't think guarantee is the right word, a lot of people ask for guarantees: 'Can you guarantee labour conditions? Can you guarantee zero chemicals?' Of course we cannot when we're such a huge company operating in very challenging conditions. What I can say is that we do the very best we can with a lot of resources and a clear direction of what we're supposed to do. We're working really hard."

— Helena Helmersson, H&M Head of Sustainability