Fast fashion chain Primark promises less polluting clothes by 2030

Faced with growing criticism of the textile sector for the pollution it generates, the discount clothing chain Primark promises to produce more sustainable clothes by 2030. The brand is part of those qualified as “fast fashion” (or disposable fashion). A mode of consumption that no longer meets the current demands of a growing number of consumers.

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The criticisms aren't just about the environmental impact. On the social side, the clothing sector has seen its image tarnished by the drama of the collapse in April 2013 of Rana Plaza, a clothing workshop in Dacca (Bangladesh), or by reports on the use by certain brands of cotton from the forced labor of the Uyghurs in China.

Aware of the need to adapt to this new situation, Primark is committed to "manufacturing all clothing from recycled materials or from more sustainable sources" or even "halving carbon emissions in the entire value chain”. The clothes it will sell will also have to be designed from the outset to have a longer lifespan by 2025 and to be able to be recycled by 2027, the statement continued.

Modest cost increase

The commitments also relate to the remuneration of textile workers in a sector often accused of making its employees work for emoluments that do not allow them to live decently and sometimes in insufficient sanitary conditions. Primark says all workers in its global supply chain should be paid a living wage by 2030.

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This strategy will 'only result in a modest increase in costs' for the company by 2030, its parent company believes, adding that it is an 'opportunity to drive sales growth' . “Our ambition is to bring consumers the affordable prices they know and love us for, but with products made in a better way for the planet and those who make them,” said Primark CEO Paul Marchant. , in a separate statement.

The confinements weighed heavily on the ready-to-wear brand, which notably closed all of its 189 stores in the United Kingdom in March 2020 and whose sales had plunged by 30% during the four last months of the year.

But its revenue has rebounded this year thanks to the reopening of all its stores, to hit £1.6bn in its staggered third quarter ending June 19, 2021, from £600m a year earlier , had announced the group at the beginning of July.