AS THE shift to using environment-safe products gains ground, Swedish clothing giant H&M pushes its sustainability efforts to shape a better planet.
Dan Mejia, head of communications and press of H&M Philippines, said the company has been creating innovative fashion pieces from used clothes.
“At the H&M Group, we have a dedicated team on sustainability. We have 220 people that are focused on sustainability programs and in each production markets, we have teams that ensure that supplier factories follow the standards,” Mejia said.
Some of H&M’s production facilities are in India, Bangladesh and China.
He said the company works with the Higgs Index that is organized and founded by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition that allows any company to self-assess in terms of production that will help the environment.
“Our business idea is to always offer our customers fashion and quality at the best price in a sustainable way. So sustainability is always at the core of everything that we do, in the whole value chain,” he said.
Mejia said sustainability is ingrained in how they design, how raw materials are grown or made, how their products are manufactured and how these are being transported.
“We focus on the projects where we have the most influence to enhance positive impact and minimize negative ones,” he said.
H&M’s goal for 2020 is to use 100 percent recycled or other sustainably-sourced cotton. In 2018, 95 percent of its total material use were recycled or other sustainably-sourced cotton.
The company has an ongoing global garment collecting program that gathers consumers’ old and reusable clothes.
“We encourage our customers to donate unwanted garments from any brand in any condition and in return we reward that action by giving them a 15 percent voucher that they can use on an item on their next purchase,” he said.
Mejia urged other businesses to follow suit and shift to a business approach that protects and preserves the health of the planet.
“We have to think long term,” he said.