Elin Hallerby, Press Officer, H&M
H&M, the Swedish retail giant, has remained a staunch believer and supporter of sustainability in the textile supply and value chain from the ancient times. In 2008, H&M teamed up with suppliers and local NGOs in Bangladesh to develop a series of five short films and training packages in order to increase awareness. In 2010 H&M together with Levi Strauss & Co. enforced a ban on sandblasting for all products. All employees go through training when starting at H&M, about their conscious actions, projects and challenges when it comes to sustainability.
What are some of the initiatives taken by H&M in the recent past to produce more sustainable products?
H&M’s business idea is to offer fashion and quality at the best price. Sustainability is an increasingly important part of this. We want our customers to feel confident that everything they buy from H&M is designed, manufactured and handled with consideration for people and the environment.
At H&M, we like to think of sustainability as a word of action, something we do rather than something we simply say. It is an on-going process with a clear direction to be continuously improved. Today sustainability is a natural part in everything we do.
Our commitments towards sustainable products include the following:
In 1997, we launched our first Code of Conduct. Back then we focused a lot on inspections and audits. Today we go further beyond monitoring, including extensive capacity building for both management and employees. Our goal is that our suppliers themselves see the benefit of sustainability and take ownership over their sustainability and recognize the progress they are making.
One current initiative taken by H&M is about wages. It has always been our vision that all textile workers should be able to live on their wage. That is also stated in our Code of Conduct. We have launched a new roadmap which is based on our vision that a fair living wage covering workers basic needs should be paid by all our commercial goods suppliers. The goal is that H&M´s strategic suppliers should have pay structures in place to pay a fair living wage by 2018. This should be enabled through H&M’s purchasing practices, and based on a skilled workforce that have their wages negotiated and annually reviewed, involving democratically elected trade unions or worker representatives. With our holistic approach covering H&M as well as factory owners, factory employees and governments we take the wage issue to the next level within the fashion industry, encouraging others to do the same. We do not believe in setting levels. We believe in negotiation where workers themselves decide what a living wage is for them. It differs from one factory to another, from one country to another. We want to put the worker's own needs in the center and let them decide when they have a living wage and negotiate it with support from us.
Does sandblasting pose a risk to occupational health and safety in ethical fashion?
Sandblasting is a technique used to give garments, in particular denim, a used or worn-out look. When sandblasting is performed, proper safeguards must be in place to protect workers from potentially serious harm resulting from exposure to crystalline silica (a compound found in sand). But there are some factories in the apparel industry – often linked to counterfeit operations – which do not apply the same safeguards, putting workers’ health at risk. Instead, alternative techniques such as manual scraping can be used to achieve the same effects.
How important is awareness about sustainability among employees?
Employees need to know their rights and how to claim them. Workers in supplier factories are often unaware of their rights. We believe that only workers who are aware of their rights can constructively claim them and contribute to a more sustainable garment industry.
What steps does H&M take towards animal welfare?
Animal welfare and the protection of endangered species are important to us. Our Product Policy has strict requirements on wool, merino wool, angora, use of animal skin, feathers, down and more.
H&M doesn’t sell genuine fur and we are a Fur Free Alliance listed retailer. We don’t accept down plucked from live birds, and merino wool used in our products must not be sourced from farms that practice mulesing.
We only accept leather products from animals that have been bred for meat production. Leather from cows in India is completely banned due to poor transport conditions. We do not sell exotic animal skins and no vulnerable or endangered species may be used.
All of our cosmetic products are made without animal testing.
