H&M and Other Retailers Regularly Destroy Unsold Clothes

[lucy92]

H&M has provided a form comment to almost every complaint posted on their page on facebook.

"H&M is committed to taking responsibility for how our operations affect people and the environment. Visit www.hm.com/csr for an updated statement. Please contact H&M via www.hm.com/csr to specifically address this situation.

/H&M Facebook page admin"


but if you go to hm.com/csr there is no specific information about the incident at all in new york. it doesnt even mention it at all! they are clearly trying to sweep this under the rug.

but i dont think it will work. H&M workers have been saying for years that the unsold designer collaboration items have been destroyed.

 

[Street_a_Licious]

don't tell me there are people who are surprised... especially on this forum

 

[Desi]

don't tell me there are people who are surprised... especially on this forum

true, this is common practice everywhere. Bad practice? Probably

Goodwill throws out clothes too! Oh my god, Goodwill, you monster!

 

[Leeroi]

don't tell me there are people who are surprised... especially on this forum

I know right. We know it's bad practice and "immoral", but a similar article was written a few years ago about high fashion brands like Chanel throwing old seasoned clothes.

Worse than Goodwill, even The Salvation Army throws out clothes that don't meet their standards. We donated some old coats a few years ago and a few of them had minor rips and holes from being worn and they were rejected. Puhh-leeeaassee, they better be glad we actually donated because we could have saved some efforts and sewed the holes ourselves and kept the coats.

 

[fashionismydrug]

When I worked at H&M, I would have to cut up clothes regularly. We would have to make them not only unwearable, but unrecognizeable (i.e. cuting out all H&M tags including care-tags and labels).

I complained about it when I was there, but obviously nothing happened. Honestly I don't think anything will happen because it's not just H&M...it's everybody.

 

[cheepmunk]

I'm more shocked how crappy H&M's PR department is than by the waste. That corporations like to make money and don't care at all about people and/or waste should not be a shock. But Wal-Mart's response was just so much better (I like that their statement had a casual "typically" thrown in there to protect themselves if they're found out again). H&M, on the other hand... To clam up and not say anything -- not even a simple "We're looking into the situation" -- and then to release a statement saying that they won't do it anymore is tantamount to an admission from H&M that they were doing something wrong. I can't believe that someone over there is probably making six figures a year for being so bad at their job.

The Salvation Army is a little too business-like for me. I get that a lot of people use it as a tax-deductible dump for their old junk, but they do sometimes toss out things that are a simple mend away from being usable. I'd rather give my stuff to shelters; they tend to need it more anyway.

 

[Leeroi]

I'm more shocked how crappy H&M's PR department is than by the waste. That corporations like to make money and don't care at all about people and/or waste should not be a shock. But Wal-Mart's response was just so much better (I like that their statement had a casual "typically" thrown in there to protect themselves if they're found out again). H&M, on the other hand... To clam up and not say anything -- not even a simple "We're looking into the situation" -- and then to release a statement saying that they won't do it anymore is tantamount to an admission from H&M that they were doing something wrong. I can't believe that someone over there is probably making six figures a year for being so bad at their job.

The Salvation Army is a little too business-like for me. I get that a lot of people use it as a tax-deductible dump for their old junk, but they do sometimes toss out things that are a simple mend away from being usable. I'd rather give my stuff to shelters; they tend to need it more anyway.

Agreed, I do still donate money to The Salvation Army, but since a few years ago I take my old clothes directly to homeless shelters and hand them to the people to make sure they actually get it.

Oh, and some "great" clothes that people donate to The Salvation Army, they end up selling them in their thrift stores instead of donating them directly to the needy.

I still don't get why the media is surprise about the slash-and-trash practice, almost all retailers do it. Maybe it's the fact that it's H&M and it's practices behind doors are hardly ever put on public; I mean, I still wonder how some of their clothes that are "Made in (European Country)" can be sold for so little money. Makes me wonder if they just change the tags during processing.

 

[D A N A]

Just goes to show how greedy corporations can be. I mean I understand if an item or items can be harmful when worn and they destroy it, but what losses could they suffer by donating to poorer countries or homeless shelters? I mean they can still make a profit out of it if they re-sell it in another season, a lot of their pieces are re-made season after season or maybe the extrans could be re-sold at another H&M in another country, I mean there are many other ways of handling these extra clothes than destroying them! Maybe they can create an Ebay account and sell them there? lol I don't know its mind boggling to me how greedy they are

 

[Style Eyes]

I have never liked H & M much anyway, I find their clothes cheap and badly made. They might commit to stop doing this but the fact that they were doing it in the first place suggests they have no ethics.

 

[juicyxoprincess]

They are not going to stop this, they are just saying it so people will stop talking about it, a few months from now it may be in the news again. Its sad but this is common practice for many companies.

 

[cheepmunk]

Agreed, I do still donate money to The Salvation Army, but since a few years ago I take my old clothes directly to homeless shelters and hand them to the people to make sure they actually get it.

Oh, and some "great" clothes that people donate to The Salvation Army, they end up selling them in their thrift stores instead of donating them directly to the needy.

I still don't get why the media is surprise about the slash-and-trash practice, almost all retailers do it. Maybe it's the fact that it's H&M and it's practices behind doors are hardly ever put on public; I mean, I still wonder how some of their clothes that are "Made in (European Country)" can be sold for so little money. Makes me wonder if they just change the tags during processing.

I gave a skirt to the Salvation Army one year that I had bought at a clearance sale. The skirt was almost brand new -- I'd taken good care of it, I just didn't have room for it anymore. Anyway, I walked into the Salvation Army store a few weeks later to look for some lamps and there was my skirt, on the rack for $1 less than what I originally paid for it. That was the last time I gave them clothes.

I've always liked their scarves and gloves, but other than that, H&M's clothes really are exceptionally cheap, even the more high-priced items. I can get better quality at Old Navy, and that's saying something. I wonder if part of what is so shocking about this story is that they were down the street from a shelter. It doesn't make it any worse, but it might make it seem worse. Also, I think the target customer has something to do with it, too. PR response aside, is anyone really shocked that Wal-Mart doesn't care about poor people? No. But H&M has made an effort to appear conscientious and appeal to younger customers who care about things like corporate responsibility. Which is long-winded way of saying what was said upthread: Maybe it's the hypocrisy that is so appalling to some.

 

[silk skin paws]

^^Good point about the retail prices in thrift stores like Salvation Army. Now Goodwill opened a store for high end merchandise so I guess most of the high end merchandise donated will be headed to those stores. I often shop at Goodwill and some items are definitely overpriced and not as dirt cheap as it's made out to be. Some items are just old and worn or subpar quality and should retail at half the listed price.

No I don't believe H&M will ever stop destroying their clothes and will continue to do so.