Marjorie van Elven

The H&M Group has taken first place as the world’s largest user of sustainable cotton and man-made cellulosic materials, according to the 2018 Textile Exchange’s Preferred Fiber Materials Market Report. Dutch fast fashion chain C&A topped the ranking last year.

According to a statement published on H&M’s website, 59 percent of all cotton used by the Swedish fast fashion giant last year was organic, recycled or “better cotton” -- a term to describe more sustainable cotton, which includes cotton sourced under the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI). In addition, of all the materials H&M used in 2017, 35 percent were sustainably sourced or recycled, also according to the company itself. H&M aims to only use recycled or other sustainably sourced materials by 2030.

“With our yearly and steady increased use of recycled or other sustainably sourced materials, we not only push the demand of widely used materials such as organic cotton, but also influence the scalability of new sustainable materials. We hope to inspire other players in the industry”, said Cecilia Brännsten, Environmental Sustainability Manager at H&M Group, in a statement.

“The data shows that the longer you have been benchmarking, the more you improve, confirming the impact of the program”, said Liesel Truscott, Director of Europe & Materials Strategy at Textile Exchange, in the same statement. Textile Exchange is a global nonprofit that collects and publishes data and insights to promote the use of preferred fiber and materials by the fashion industry. Its annual global conference is being held this week in Milan, Italy.