Swedish clothing company makes progress in sustainability prospect

The Swedish clothing company Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) released its 12th sustainability report, with highlights during 2013, including the launch of roadmap for fair living wages, said the company in a statement on Thursday. The launch of roadmap for fair living wages aimed at enabling suppliers to pay higher wages to their workers. Besides, the highlights also include the launch of the first closed loop products made with 20 percent recycled material from collected garments and a doubling of share of more sustainable cotton in the last two years. The goals of the company by 2020 include that all cotton should come from more sustainable sources and also that there should be 20 percent less electricity used by per H&M store by then. "Considering the fact that H&M sources from 1,900 factories reaching 1,6 million people, the potential for change is immense," said Janet Mensink, International Program Coordinator Cotton and Textiles for Solidaridad Network. The H&M Group has around 3,200 stores in 54 markets including franchise markets. In 2013, sales were 150,090 million Swedish kronor (22.97 billion U.S. dollars) and the number of employees was more than 116,000.