Written Fashion Reporter Paula Kiessling / Illustration: Susanne Gold

H&M focuses on sustainability with Looper Textile Co.: Can the joint venture improve the fast fashion industry? H&M and Remondis establish Looper Textile Co. to increase recycling rate

The fashion industry is considered one of the biggest polluters in the world. The fast fashion industry in particular produces on a large scale, wastes resources and pollutes the environment. It is therefore all the more gratifying that companies like H&M now want to become more sustainable. Together with the German environmental service provider Remondis, H&M has founded the Looper Textile Co. to increase the recycling rate of garments.

H&M has already been focusing on textile recycling since 2013 and cooperates with Renewcell

H&M has already invested in textile recycling since 2013 and was the first fashion company in the world to launch an initiative to collect garments. The company has been working with Swedish textile recycler Renewcell for several years to be able to use recycled pulp for textile production. Through the investment arm H&M CO:LAB, it will now invest in companies that develop technologies for textile recycling. The aim is to continue to prevent 60% of used textiles from going to waste and to focus on resale and recycling.

Looper Textile Co. to become the preferred raw material supplier for companies

Looper Textile Co. is based in Stockholm and is a joint venture owned 50% by the H&M Group and 50% by Remondis. The company currently consists of 60 employees and is expected to increase to 100 people this year. Looper aims to become the preferred raw material supplier for companies to enable the circular economy that is lacking in the fashion industry today but will be essential in the future. This year, 40 million old clothes will already be collected and recycled, about half of which will come from H&M’s Garment Collecting Initiative. Looper is ready to work with any company that wants to take this step towards a better future.

Criticism from Greenpeace: Is the intention of the joint venture really sustainability?

But while H&M and Remondis see the joint venture as an important step towards more sustainability, Greenpeace criticises the strategy of the joint venture as unsustainable. Viola Wohlgemuth, a Greenpeace officer, describes Looper Textile Co.’s goal as securing valuable textile fabric streams for H&M. She emphasises that true sustainability means not producing anything new, but using the resources we already have.

The joint venture as a real step towards improving the circular economy in the fashion industry?

Nevertheless, the joint venture is an important first step to improve the circular economy in the fast fashion industry. Through innovative technologies and improved collection systems, used and discarded textiles can be recycled to reduce the burden on the environment and use resources more efficiently. H&M is thus sending an important signal and showing that sustainability is also possible in the fashion industry.