H&M creates joint venture to drive used garment and textile sorting
H&M Group has teamed up with Remondis to create a joint venture to collect, sort and sell used and unwanted garments and textiles.
Called Looper Textile Co. the standalone joint venture is owned 50% by H&M Group and 50% by Remondis.
H&M Group was the first fashion company to launch a garment collecting initiative worldwide in 2013. It has subsequently invested in several companies that develop technologies to enable textile recycling.
The group said this latest move will enable it to become more involved in developing the infrastructure to close “the loop of fashion” as it benefits from Remondis’s know-how in providing collection and sorting solutions at scale.
Emily Bolon, chief executive of Looper Textile Co., said: “We are excited to announce the launch of Looper Textile Co. Used and unwanted garments must first be collected and sorted into different streams, such as by type of material or garment, in order to be reused or recycled.
“Today, less than 40% of used clothes are collected in the EU. Consequently, 60% of post-consumer textiles go directly to waste. By building infrastructure and solutions for collection and sorting, we hope to move one step closer toward enabling circularity, thereby minimising the CO²-impact and improving resource efficiency.”
