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Materials Currently in Use

 

We have a material categorisation that guides our design team to take better material decisions. The guide is following our Animal Welfare and Responsible Raw Material Sourcing policies as well as Textile Exchange’s Preferred Fiber & Materials Matrix methodology.

 

We evaluate the environmental impact of each material using third-party lifecycle assessment (LCA) data. This includes LCA:s for individual materials as well as external material benchmarks based on LCA data, such as the Material Sustainability Index (MSI) by Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC)

Using these third-party assessments helps to create industry alignment and makes it easy for customers and stakeholders to compare and understand how we are doing. Download the H&M Group Material Categorisation 2021 .


Materials with the least environmental impact is always prioritized. Our current share of responsible materials is 99%. We aim at reaching 100% responsible materials.

 

Quick facts 

  • 2020 recycled or sustainably sourced cotton  
  • 2017 all our swimwear made from recycled polyamide and polyester
  • 2015 all our jeans made with organic cotton 

 

A - Our most prioritized materials

Recycled cotton

Viscose with partly recycled source for example Circulose® and Liva Reviva

Cupro 

Hemp from agricultural co-products (Agra loop) 

Recycled polyester (Textile Waste)

Recycled wool

Recycled paper

Post-consumer recycled plastic
Post-consumer recycled metal  

 

B - A lot better than the average

Organic Cotton 

FSC sourced viscose made with more sustainable chemical processes for example Tencel™, lyocell, Eastman Naia)

Recycled polyester (PET) 

Partly bio-based, partly water-based PU 

 

C - Better than the average

Viscose with FSC feedstock for example Ecovero™, Modal

Pre consumer recycled polyamide 

Acrylic substitute with partly recycled polyester 

RWS wool 

RWS mohair

Virgin hemp and linen 

Pre consumer recycled elastane 

Cotton from Better Cotton Initiative

  

D - Where 1% of our materials belong 

Conventional materials that we will phase out by 2025.

 

Materials We Don’t Use

There are no-no materials that we would never ever use:

  • Fur
  • Leather
  • PVC plastic
  • Conventional PU
  • Animal fibres, unless recycled or certified to an animal welfare standard
  • Wood from endangered forests
  • Materials with Fluorocarbon treatments, or any of all the other chemicals mentioned on our chemical restrictions list (find this here)