- Robyn Turk
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The H&M Group and furniture giant Ikea have joined together to
conduct a large-scale study of recycled textiles, as the companies
announced at the 2019 Textile Exchange Sustainability Conference.
The two companies are currently reviewing chemical content in
post-consumer textile recycling in a study that has been underway
since May 2018.
H&M has been working towards a goal of increasing its use of
recycled materials to become more circular, and therefore has an
interest in understanding the chemical content of collected pre-owned
textiles to ensure safe use of recycled materials.
“Recycled materials are key elements in a circular economy.
However, increasing the use of recycled materials whilst ensuring that
we keep these textiles free of toxic chemicals presents a challenge
for the industry,” H&M’s global business expert on materials Anna
Biverstål said in a statement.
The H&M Group and Ikea have already conducted 8,000 tests on
collected recyclable textiles, initially focusing on post-consumer
cotton. Polyester and wool rich post-consumer textiles will be
included as the study progresses.
The two parties aim to use their findings to develop an action plan
for the use of recycled textiles, which will meet strict safety
standards.
Image: H&M Group Newsroom
