Completed projects
Since starting in 2013, we and our partners have reached millions of people across the world to create a better future. Below is a selection of our completed projects.
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Planet First in partnership with HKRITA
In collaboration with our long-standing research partner, The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA), we ran the Planet First programme, dedicated to researching and implementing practical solutions for the textile and fashion industry.
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Open Lab – enabling collaboration and research
We want to talk less and do more. Together with our partner The Hong Kong Research Institute for Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA), we thought we needed a place where the entire value chain of the fashion and textiles industry could come together to collaborate, prototype…
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Knit – accelerating inclusion in fashion
Our project Knit was redefining how diversity, equity, and inclusion were approached in the fashion industry. Launched in 2023, Knit empowered changemakers from marginalised backgrounds to co-create solutions that foster empathy, representation, and inclusivity. Two tools were developed to support industry leaders in creating inclusive…
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AI-powered Smart Garment Sorting System automating textile recycling
Around 100 million tonnes textile waste is created annually, but the rate of recycling old textiles into new garments remains low. The Smart Garment Sorting System aimed to change that by leveraging the power of artificial intelligence and advanced image analysis techniques, including hyperspectral spectroscopy.
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Supporting tomorrow’s climate storytellers
New Zero World is a coalition of climate allies creating a global movement to shift public opinion and promote behavioural change through new climate narratives that positively reimagine our visions of the future. Through our partnership, the H&M Foundation supports New Zero World in developing…
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reProLeather – regenerating bio-based leather from leather waste
Traditional recycled leather is produced by combining shredded scraps and residual fibers of real leather with synthetic, non-biodegradable binders like PU and PVC. In contrast, the reProLeather project pioneered a new approach. It employed bio-based binders and chemicals.
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Acousweep – sound wave technology that separates microplastics from water
Breakthrough technology developed by The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) with the support of H&M Foundation, separated microplastics from wastewater using soundwaves. If the technology would be implemented at an industrial scale, it could have a significant impact on the fashion…
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Spurring innovation to improve gender equality on the factory floor
Through an international innovation challenge, we were looking for innovations with the potential to advance the industry competitiveness – and improve the livelihoods of women garment workers and the gender equality on the factory floor in Bangladesh.
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Upskilling the female workforce in Bangladesh
As the use of automation and digital technology is making its way into the textile industry there is an urgent need to create a skilled female workforce to save jobs and create new job opportunities. Through a joint programme, CARE, Shimmy Technologies and BBC Media…
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Emergency relief to women garment workers affected by COVID-19
There is an urgent need to minimize the negative impacts of COVID-19 on women garment workers in Bangaldesh, largely affected by the global pandemic as well as the increased automation of the textile industry.
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Carbon Looper – CO2 capturing textiles
Carbon Looper is potentially the start of a paradigm shift in how we think about textiles and the fashion industry. Traditionally, the production of garments and the unsustainable use of natural resources have gone hand in hand. But what if it could be the other…
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Absorboost – cellulose powder improving cotton quality
This project was a spinoff from the Green Machine developed in 2018 by HKRITA and H&M Foundation. The cellulose powder generated from the Green Machine is clean and toxic-free. We investigated two applications of the powder: making new garments and improving cotton farming.
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Textiles Tracker – helping investors support sustainable fashion
The fashion industry is huge. According to Statista, the global apparel market is projected to grow in value from USD 1.5 trillion in 2020 to about 2.25 trillion dollars by 2025. Yet, the true cost of investments is not fully incorporated. Specifically, most investors and…
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Planet Resilience Simulator – supporting research on Earth’s support systems
To drive real change towards a planet positive future, we need to know what we are targeting and why. Together with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), a leading research institution on global environmental change, the H&M Foundation invests in an advanced computer…
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Global Program for Education
Children who experience love, proper nutrition and protection in a stimulating environment during early childhood become resilient, learn effectively and can help build strong, safe communities and economies when they reach adulthood. Together with UNICEF, the H&M Foundation ran a global program over six years…
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Global Program for Equality
Women and girls around the world are disproportionately affected by poverty and discrimination. In all regions, women spend at least twice as much time as men on unpaid domestic work, but are often not allowed to make decisions that affect their own lives. Women from…
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Recycling Revolution – inventing new ways to recycle textiles
Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled our burned. But what is treated as waste, is really the complete opposite. Worn out garments are a valuable resource that can be recycled, redesigned and re-loved. To make this happen at scale,…
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Green Machine – separating blend textiles at scale
The Green Machine, developed by HKRITA with support from H&M Foundation, was the world’s first technology that could separate blended textiles at scale, without quality loss. The best part? It’s made available at cost-price basis to drive maximum change in the industry.
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G2G – a miniaturized recycling machine to change perception
Recycling old garments is still a fairly new habit, and while the awareness is increasing only a fraction of all textiles disposed are being recycled today. For the fashion industry to become fully circular, there is an urgent need to change people’s perception of old…
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Global Program for Water
Across the world, women are forced to waste precious time walking long distances to collect dirty water. Girls are dropping out of school because there are no private toilets, and young children are not surviving to see their fifth birthday because of preventable diseases. The…