{"id":21570,"date":"2017-11-12T18:36:02","date_gmt":"2017-11-12T23:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/hm-leads-the-way-for-sustainable-fast-fashion\/"},"modified":"2017-11-12T18:36:02","modified_gmt":"2017-11-12T23:36:02","slug":"hm-leads-the-way-for-sustainable-fast-fashion","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/hm-leads-the-way-for-sustainable-fast-fashion\/","title":{"rendered":"H&M Leads the Way for Sustainable Fast Fashion"},"content":{"rendered":"

The world of fast-fashion has dramatically changed consumer expectations and increased the production cycles of the retail industry, but at what cost?<\/p>\n

The number of clothing items purchased by customers increases by 60% annually, and product lifecycles are half as long as they were 15 years ago.\u00a0 With this immeasurable growth, fast fashion retailers are unable to match environmental efforts at the same rate [1].\u00a0 Retailers have an especially important role as they have supply chain control, from agricultural inputs to customer education, and can act as a middle-man between the producer and the end-user [2]. \u00a0Additionally, apparel production drives a significant use of chemicals and water.\u00a0 Coupled with consumers\u2019 increasing awareness of climate change and willingness to pay for social impact, sustainable practices can act as a competitive advantage [3].<\/p>\n

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[1] McKinsey<\/figcaption><\/figure>Enter H&M.<\/p>\n

The Swedish-based apparel retailer has made it their responsibility to change the face of sustainable fast-fashion.\u00a0 According to CEO Karl-Johan Persson, H&M\u2019s vision is to \u201clead the change towards circular and renewable fashion\u201d [5].\u00a0 By 2040, H&M has committed to a climate positive value chain through a multi-step plan that focuses on using energy from renewable sources and reducing the energy need across 1) raw materials, 2) production processes, and 3) distribution\/in-store activities [4].<\/p>\n

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A Sustainable Supply Chain in Today\u2019s World<\/em><\/p>\n

With a goal of using 100% renewable energy in its own operations, H&M has already made notable moves: in 2016, 96% of their energy came from renewable sources, up from 78% in 2015.\u00a0 Carbon dioxide emissions were reduced by 47% in the same year [4].<\/p>\n

H&M has incorporated both suppliers and consumers in their sustainability efforts:<\/p>\n

They became a founding member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, an \u201cindustry-wide alliance working towards sustainable production\u201d.\u00a0 From which, the Higg Index was created to assess the performance of social and environmental measures, and to recognize areas of improvement.\u00a0 H&M was one of the first global fashion houses to roll this initiative out to their Tier 1 and 2 factories [5].<\/p>\n

H&M set up a garment collecting platform as a tool to empower the customer: for a 15% discount, customers donated no-longer-worn items, which were later re-used to produce new clothes.\u00a0 Since 2013, they have collected 40,000 tons of clothing and aim to collect an additional 25,000 by 2020.\u00a0 This program reduces the climatic impact of production and emphasizes H&M\u2019s promise to increase their use of sustainable materials and to improve recycling technologies [6].<\/p>\n

The company has also established key partnerships with organizations focused on creating systematic changes in the fashion industry, including: Canopy, Better Cotton Initiative, and Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute [5].<\/p>\n

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By 2030, H&M has committed to the following across their supply chain as part of being \u201c100% Circular and Renewable\u201d [5]:<\/p>\n