Swedish fashion giant H&M has released its 2022 sustainability report, which details its progress toward meeting its goals for minimizing its environmental consequences.
In 2022, 84% of the materials used by retailers were recycled or sourced in a more sustainable manner. This brought the company closer to its objective of having 100% of its materials recycled or sourced sustainably by 2025.
The company’s goal to reduce absolute emissions by 56% by 2030 is said to be supported by the report’s 7% absolute reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in scope 3 and 8% absolute reduction in scope 1 and 2 compared to a 2019 baseline.
The company claims that there has been a 44% decrease in plastic packaging compared to the baseline year of 2018.
In the report, H&M also makes mention of a new 2030 water strategy and claims to have cut its water consumption per product by 38% compared to the baseline year of 2017.
According to the statement, this was accomplished “via enhanced wastewater recycling and efficiency improvements.”
H&M’s CEO Helena Helmersson describes the difficulties the company experienced in 2022 in a letter that serves as the report’s introduction. She notes that the year was “turbulent, highlighted by the war in Ukraine.”
Helmersson also said that despite this, H&M was still able to “invest in programs to minimize greenhouse gas emissions throughout our entire value chain”.
The firm “struck a multi-year carbon removal agreement with Climeworks, which includes the removal of 10,000 tons of carbon dioxide via direct air capture and storage technology,” according to the report, which was published in 2022.
According to Helmersson, “Our investments have quickly generated significant value, for instance by enhancing the customer experience and facilitating the scaling and commercialization of recycled and more sustainably sourced materials.”
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