Fashion-giant H&M is bringing new meaning to its clothing collection and recycling efforts through its newest line of clothing hitting stores in February. This week, H&M announced a “Capsule Collection” line featuring five new denim pieces using fibers from its Garment Collecting program. Currently, 20 percent of the cotton in each clothing article will be made from recycled fibers, with the goal to increase recycled fiber usage without compromising quality as technology in the area accelerates.
Coming just one year after H&M started the in-store recycling program in all of its 53 markets, the company is putting the 7.7 million pounds of used clothing collected to good use. Now, not only can consumers see the impact of their efforts through the clothing available in-store, they can also track local clothing collection progress on a website created by H&M and Charity Star. The site breaks down amounts collected by kilograms and Euros raised (a .02 Euro donation is activated for each kilogram of clothing collected) by country.
H&M is leading the race in consumer take-back efforts by showing proof of progress right in stores. By making the end result of the Garment Collecting program tangible, the company shows not only how consumers’ recycling efforts are paying off but also how these actions ladder up to broader sustainability initiatives. All companies should look to take a page from the H&M playbook as communicating sustainability “wins” at point of sale reaffirms the critical role consumers play as partners in making a difference.