H&M puts €5m behind drive to cut pollution in textile production

H&M Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Persson family – who founded H&M and remain its majority owners – is donating €5m to Future Forward Factories. The 2025–2030 initiative, led by Fashion for Good, aims to tackle the textile sector’s dirtiest tier‑2 processes.

The programme will create seven public blueprints, each for a different region, showing how big factories could produce textiles with very low carbon emissions. They’ll test these blueprints in example factories and use digital tools to make the process work efficiently.

First factory in India

First up is a demonstration with textile producer Arvind Limited in Gujarat, India, focused on cotton fabrics. The project expects to show up to 93% emissions reductions and around 60 litres of water saved per kilo of fabric, according to H&M Foundation.

"What excites me is that this gives suppliers real tools, real examples and a real business case for change," said Christiane Dolva, head of innovation, research and demonstration, H&M Foundation, about the project.

A dirty industry

According to a study of the fashion industry by global impact organisation Circle Economy, also backed by The H&M Foundation, just 0.3% of textile materials come from recycled sources.