The equivalent of 325 million PET bottles were used to recycle polyester in 2018 by the apparel giant H&M. This was significantly much more than the year before as well.
Globally, H&M is the sixth-largest consumer of recycled polyester according to the company’s 2018 sustainability report. Recycled PET (RPET) consumption in 2018 was up from 2017, when it was the equivalent of 100 million PET bottles.
Last year, the Sewden-headquartered brand replaced conventional polyester and nylon with recycled alternatives, as per the report. Italian company Aquafil’s product, a 100 per cent recycled nylon fibre brand, Econyl was used by the Arket brand and H&M. Besides, H&M’s Weekday swimwear brand was also made totally from recycled polyester and nylon, last year.
H&M wants to enhance the use of recycled fibres in the products; yet, more technological advancement in recycling technologies is needed to attain this and be able to recycle all fibre types and blends at scale, according to the brand.
The brand has entered into several technological investments and partnerships and quite a few involve the use of new technologies to create polyester from used textiles.
Moreover, at it’s stores, the brand also collected used textiles for reuse and recycling and in 2018, it took in 20,649 metric tons, which was 16 per cent more compared to 2017.
