Beijing, September 20, 2011: H&M, the world's second-largest apparel retailer, publicly pledged to eliminate the use of all toxic chemicals in its supply chain and products by 2020. This makes H&M the fourth brand to respond to Greenpeace's "Toxic Future" call since the organization released its report, "Toxic Fashion – A Global Survey of Water Pollution in China by Apparel Brands," in July. Greenpeace also urged other brands, such as Li-Ning, to make similar commitments as soon as possible to detoxify China's rivers.
Zhang Kai, director of Greenpeace's Pollution Prevention Project, said, "Greenpeace welcomes H&M's positive commitment, which marks another significant step forward in our 'Detoxifying China's Rivers' campaign. H&M also recognizes the importance of disclosing pollution information, which will help the public and suppliers effectively monitor the company's progress in eliminating toxic and hazardous substances." Last Wednesday, Greenpeace members launched a simultaneous campaign in 12 countries worldwide, including Hong Kong, France, Germany, Sweden, Finland, and Turkey, displaying slogans such as "Toxic-Free Future" and "Detoxifying China's Rivers" in H&M retail store windows and launching an online campaign to convey public demands to H&M management. H&M pledged to release a concrete action plan within eight weeks, aiming to achieve zero emissions of toxic chemicals by 2020 based on a "precautionary" approach. H&M also proposed to release information annually on its suppliers' use and emissions of toxic chemicals. The first set of data will be released no later than the end of 2012.
Zhang Kai continued, "The commitments of H&M, Adidas, Puma, and Nike fully demonstrate that completely eliminating toxic chemicals is feasible. If other brands like Li Ning continue to delay making non-toxic commitments and disclosing environmental information and accepting public supervision, they will fall far behind in the race to protect the environment, thus disappointing their consumers."
In July of this year, Greenpeace released an investigative report titled "Fashion Poison: A Survey of Water Pollution in China by Global Apparel Brands." The report indicated that industrial wastewater discharged by two suppliers of several well-known international and domestic apparel brands, including Adidas, Nike, and Li-Ning, contained endocrine disruptors and reproductive system-affecting substances. Last month, another Greenpeace report, "Toxic Substances Hidden in Clothing: A Survey of Toxic and Hazardous Substance Residues in Global Branded Apparel," further revealed that products from these well-known international and domestic brands contained the endocrine disruptor nonylphenol ethoxylate (NPE).
Following the report's release, many consumers and volunteers joined Greenpeace's "Detox" campaign, urging brands to make positive commitments and changes. Zhang Kai continued, "Greenpeace will continue to work with consumers worldwide to closely monitor and supervise the follow-up actions of brands such as H&M, Adidas, Puma, and Nike, while also urging other brands to make toxin-free commitments as soon as possible and take immediate concrete action."
Source: Greenpeace (September 20, 2011)
