Fashionably Closing The Loop On Waste.

Of the thousands of tonnes of textiles that people throw away every year, as much as 95% could be re-worn or recycled. Since 2013, H&M customers worldwide have been able to bring unwanted clothes from any brand into its stores as part of its Garment Collecting Initiative and be rewarded with a voucher. A fantastic example of customer engagement, so far over 18,000 tonnes have been collected globally from which 20% recycled cotton has been extracted and reused in a cool new denim line called ‘Close The Loop‘. The idea behind closing the loop is very simple – why should any fashion go to waste when it can be collected, re-used or turned into something new?

“Creating a closed loop for textiles, in which unwanted clothes can be recycled into new ones, will not only minimize textile waste, but also significantly reduce the need for virgin resources as well as other impacts fashion has on our planet,“ says Karl-Johan Persson, CEO of H&M.

With a strong focus on sustainability and shift toward a more Circular Economy approach, H&M are investing in new technology to increase the amount of recycled textiles from 20% to 300% in the next few years. The new denim line is comprised of 16 pieces for men, women and kids, made out of a combination of organic and recycled textiles, materials that could’ve just as easily taken a spot in the landfill.