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H&M levels up textile traceability together with innovative tech partner

Camilla Rydzek
03 May 2022

Fast fashion retail business H&M Group has extended its partnership with former Global Change Award winner TextileGenesis to level up supply chain traceability and transparency of its textile fibres.

H&M Group will now use TextileGenesis' blockchain-enabled textile traceability platform to trace man-made cellulose and recycled polyester fibres throughout its supply chain, after first piloting the technology in 2019-20.

Throughout 2022 the new traceability software will be rolled out in a phase-by-phase approach, making up to 20% of H&M's material base traceable from fibre to final product. To put this into context, in its scaled pilot programmes in 2021 the retailer traced more than 1.5 million garments using the technology, and by the end of 2022 it aims to increase this number to over 200 million items.

During the pilot programmes H&M said that it had onboarded and trained hundreds of its man-made cellulosics and recycled polyester suppliers across several countries.

Amit Gautam, Founder & CEO, TextileGenesis said: "H&M Group is at the cutting-edge of traceability in the fashion industry and has continuously challenged us to deliver traceability at scale. Our joint ambition to track several hundred million units from fibre-to-retail marks a major milestone. It moves the entire industry forward in realising scalable supply chain traceability."

Merel Krebbers, Product owner Fiber to Product Traceability, H&M Group added: "H&M Group believe that supply chain traceability and transparency should go hand-in-hand to create greater accountability for where materials and products come from, and to drive positive change in the fashion industry."

Sportswear brand Adidas has recently announced a similar move as H&M, partnering with supply chain transparency company TrusTrace to introduce near real-time traceability at a material level.

The partnership is meant to help Adidas achieve its sustainability goals, which include moving to 100% recycled polyester by 2024 and having nine out of 10 products feature a sustainable technology, material, design or manufacturing method by 2025.

The H&M Foundation's Global Change Awards is one of the biggest innovation challenges in the world, according to the company and focuses on early stage concepts that aim to create a more sustainable future for fashion. This year the award saw Rubi Laboratories, an innovative business that creates viscose made of carbon emissions captured from the air, as one of its five winners. 

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