As the unceasing climate crisis looms, consumers are rethinking their consumption habits; questioning what they need and what adds value to their life. More than three in five consumers consider environmental impact a critical factor to their purchasing decisions – that’s over 60% (McKinsey & Company, 2021 ). Environmental issues are now more important (great), and more pressing (not so great), than ever. So, what can we do?  

Recycling, upscaling, renting, reselling and repairing garments are fantastic ways to extend the life (and value) of goods and minimize waste. In 2019 alone, H&M Group collected 29,005 tons of recycled textiles for reuse through their garment collecting initiative; that makes roughly 145 million T-shirts.  

Successfully recycling such quantities, though, requires the right technology. While H&M Group always looked for game-changing solutions, some textiles have been persistently harder to recycle than others.

Why?

Most clothes are made of multiple materials; fibres are often mixed to meet the garment’s needs – more stretch, fewer wrinkles, a better price, for example. Mixed fabrics are harder to separate by fibre, and consequently, harder to recycle back into new garments. 

The new normal requires new technology  

Finding virtuous and circular solutions to waste-related problems sits within H&M Group’s goal to use only recycled or sustainably sourced materials by 2030. So, the challenge H&M tasked themselves with was to find technology that could separate recycled garments at fibre level, including blended fabrics; a solution that would allow us to use even the trickiest of recycled textiles to their fullest – down to the very last thread.  

Several initiatives by H&M Group and its collaborators are already getting real-world trials. Re:newcell, the Swedish textile recycling company, for example, was the basis of the H&M Conscious Exclusive SS20 collection. A recently signed multi-year agreement with the firm will enable the group’s portfolio of brands to continue to choose Circulose®* fibres for millions of garments; a vital alternative to virgin materials like cotton, which require unsustainable amounts of land and water to cultivate.     

Looop – visualizing the value of textiles 

The newest eco-hero (read: game-changing recycling innovation) is Looop. Transforming old garments into fresh ones in only eight steps, Looop shows customers how something old can become something new – without the added environmental cost. The system recaptures valuable raw materials in recycled clothing and regenerates them back into fibres that are spun into new yarn and knitted into new clothes. You can see Looop in action at H&M’s flagship store in Stockholm. 

“It is important to let our customers be part of our journey and to show them the value of textiles and at the same time, inspire them to prolong the lifetime of their garments. Looop is a good way to visualize that and a great forum to pay attention to H&M Group’s other recycling and repair initiatives. Looop is not the whole solution but an important part of our journey to become a circular business“, Felicia Reuterswaerd, Sustainability Manager at H&M Sweden, says.