H&M case study

Don't let fashion go to waste.

Every year, tons of textiles end up in landfills. But as much as 95% of these textiles and clothes could be used again. That’s why we are now collecting clothes in our stores. Clothes of any brand, in any quality and any condition.

If you’ve got something worn, torn or hopelessly out of style – don’t throw it away or let it pile up in the back of your wardrobe. Bring it to us and help reduce the amount of fashion being wasted.
Bring your unwanted clothes to any H&M store. For each bag of clothes you hand in, you will receive a £5 voucher to redeem on your next purchase of £30 or more.

Your clothes are sent with our usual deliveries to the nearest processing plant. The clothes are then graded and hand-sorted. Zero waste is the goal. Items that are too worn and torn to be reused will be recycled and turned into raw materials and new products.

Rewear - Clothing that can be worn again is marketed worldwide as second-hand goods.

Reuse - Textiles that are no longer suitable to wear are converted into other products, such as cleaning cloths.

Recycle - Textiles that can’t be reused get a new chance as textile fibres, or are used to manufacture products such as damping and insulating materials for the auto industry.

Energy -When rewear, reuse and recycle are not options, textiles are used to produce energy.

Why is H&M doing this?

We want to reduce the environmental impact of the fashion industry by limiting the amount of waste ending up in landfills.

H&M uses a reward system to get people to donate their clothes in-store. Getting a reward in the form of money off their next purchase is a great incentive. However Traid is trying to reduce consumption as well as getting people to donate their unwanted clothing so this, although effective, would not be suitable for Traid.