H&M’s solutions of sustainable supply chain development

Raw materials

With the increasing awareness of environmental sustainability, H&M has used organic cotton for many years and invested a great deal of money on sustainable cotton production.

To reduce our environmental impact, H&M aims for 1005 of their materials to be either recycled or sourced in a more sustainable way by 2030, and 30% recycled materials by 2025.

Sustainable production process

H&M builds an industry that designs products to be:

used more;
made to be made again;
made from safe and recycled or renewable inputs.

Freight transport

Ferry and train are relatively clean modes in transportation. At present, shipping via sea or rail is the main mode of H&M’s transportation from supplier to distribution centers (more than 80% of the volume). In return, the amount of carbon dioxide decreases over 700 tons a year. If road transport has to be used, H&M provides a training course to the truck drivers and does not use the trucks which have been used for more than 10 years. In order to reduce associated emissions, H&M built up an intelligent transportation system for direct shipments, which avoided intermediate warehouses, decreased the volumes shipped via ocean and air by 40%, and increased the volume of products shipped by rail. H&M customizes the transport packing, each way, from production countries to distribution centers, according to the quality and environmental requirements. In addition, when garments are transported from distribution centers to retail stores, transport boxes are always reusable.

Packaging

Reduce packaging across our value chain by 25% by 2025, including an absolute reduction in plastic packaging of 25% by 2025 (2018 baseline). Eliminate unnecessary and problematic packaging. Replace single-use packaging with reusable alternatives wherever possible.
100% of packaging made from recycled or other sustainably sourced material by 2030. All packaging designed to be reusable or recyclable by 2025.

Source: H&M Group