Circulose Teams with H&M as Scaling Partner

Circulose, the Swedish textile-to-textile recycling specialist formerly operating as Renewcell, has formally become a multi-year “Scaling Partner” of H&M Group. The agreement entails H&M integrating Circulose-based man-made cellulosic fibres (MMCFs) derived from textile waste into its production lines for brands including H&M, COS, Weekday, and ARKET .

This collaboration marks the third major alliance Circulose has announced this month—following tie-ups with Mango and designer Patrick McDowell—since re-launching post its February 2024 bankruptcy under a new ownership led by investment house Altor .  Built on a licensing-pricing framework co-developed with Fashion For Good and forestry NGO Canopy, the deal gives H&M access to recycled viscose and lyocell at rates near those of virgin viscose/cotton.

“H&M Group has been a driving force in advancing sustainable and circular solutions in fashion, and a long-time supporter and early adopter of CIRCULOSE® – dating back to the Renewcell days. We’re proud and grateful to now formalize this new partnership to accelerate CIRCULOSE® adoption at scale. Their commitment plays a critical role in helping us reaching the volumes needed to restart our factory,” says Jonatan Janmark, CEO of Circulose.

“We were pioneers back in 2020 when we first brought fashion made from CIRCULOSE® to our customers. Today, we’re excited to deepen this partnership. Investing in next-generation materials is essential to achieving our goal: ensuring that 100% of our materials are recycled or sustainably sourced by 2030. Scaling access to these solutions is key to accelerating the shift towards a circular economy for fashion,” says Cecilia Strömblad Brännsten, H&M Group’s Head of Resource Use & Circularity.

H&M, an early adopter since 2020, is committed to deploying “significant volumes” of Circulose fiber in replacement of virgin feedstocks. With cotton constituting 55% of H&M’s fiber basket and wood-based cellulosic fibres around 8%, even modest substitution will deliver measurable sustainability gains.