Zara expands its circular Pre-Owned platform to the U.S., while H&M Foundation launches a strategy to halve textile emissions by 2050.
Zara introduced its “Pre-Owned” platform to the U.S. today, marking its first expansion outside of Europe. Inditex, Zara’s parent company, announced this initiative during its 2024 first-half earnings report, underscoring the company’s commitment to circular fashion. The new platform will be accessible via Zara’s website, mobile app, and in physical stores across the country.
The Pre-Owned platform offers three key services including repair, resale, and donation. Through the repair service, customers can restore any Zara garment — regardless of the collection or season — by requesting fixes for common issues such as broken zippers, missing buttons, and torn seams. The resale feature allows customers to sell their used Zara pieces, offering a straightforward process where product details, including original information and photos, are automatically populated. Sellers only need to provide information on the item’s size and condition.
For those interested in donating, Zara has partnered with the Salvation Army in the U.S., ensuring donated items are put to good use. Donations are sorted for reuse whenever possible, and if garments are no longer suitable, they are recycled to create new materials or textile fibers. Additionally, customers in New York City have the added convenience of scheduling at-home pickups for donations along with their online deliveries.
According to Paula Ampuero, head of sustainability at Zara.com, the launch of this project is to help the company’s American customers embrace circularity. “We envision a world in which every Zara garment is reused and recycled,” Ampuero said in a statement.
The Pre-Owned initiative aligns with Zara’s effort to offer consumers a complete circularity model while contributing to local communities. Zara is working with more than 90 community organizations across its markets, using donations and resale profits to support vulnerable populations and fund community projects.
Ampuero emphasized that this initiative reflects Inditex’s broader strategy toward a circular economy and responsible consumption — part of Inditex’s key actions to foster responsible consumption, and by 2025, it’s aiming to launch it in all major Zara markets.
“The evolution of our Pre-Owned service in Europe has showed us that this type of service can offer utility for consumers,” Ampuero said. “Brands play an important role not only in responding to consumer demand but also in proactively introducing solutions.”
Similar to Zara’s efforts, the H&M Foundation announced a major shift in its strategy today, focusing on helping the textile industry cut greenhouse gas emissions by half every decade until 2050 while ensuring a fair transition for both people and the planet. As the first step in this new direction, the 2025 Global Change Award (GCA) aims to foster innovative solutions addressing key emission sources across the textile value chain, such as sustainable materials, responsible production, and mindful consumption.
“The textile industry needs all hands on deck if we are going to meet our climate goals by 2050, and we must ensure this transition is fair for everyone,” Karl-Johan Persson, Board Member of the H&M Foundation, said in a statement. He emphasized that the GCA will play a crucial role in nurturing changemakers whose ideas, with the right support, can drive transformative change. Since its launch in 2015, GCA has awarded 46 innovations a total of €8 million, with each of the ten annual winners receiving €200,000.
New updates to the award include a sharper focus on decarbonizing the textile industry and adopting a systems-change approach, encouraging innovators to consider the interconnectedness of the entire value chain. Additionally, the application process will now be nomination-based, targeting a broader range of changemakers. In partnership with Accenture and KTH Royal Institute of Technology, winners will participate in a yearlong Changemaker Programme, gaining access to mentorship and industry collaboration. The 2025 Global Change Award winners will be announced in April 2025.
Both Zara’s news and the H&M Foundation’s new initiative come on the heels of new research from Greenpeace Africa and Greenpeace Germany highlighting the environmental and health risks posed by clothing waste from the Global North that ends up in countries like Ghana and Kenya. Much of the secondhand clothing is made from synthetic materials and is unsellable, often piling up in dumpsites or burned in public spaces, releasing harmful pollutants. Kantamanto, Ghana’s largest secondhand market, receives around 15 million items weekly, contributing to severe soil, water, and air contamination. Air samples from public washhouses in Accra revealed dangerously high levels of carcinogens like benzene and PAHs.
Greenpeace warns that these issues represent not just environmental degradation but also a stark example of environmental injustice. “The toxic waste dumped in Ghana is not just an environmental issue, but a stark example of environmental injustice recklessly carried out by the Global North,” said Hellen Dena of Greenpeace Africa. Report author Sam Quashie-Idun added, “The clothes we tested are literally poisoning the people of Accra.” The crisis is mirrored in Kenya, where textile waste is also harming ecosystems and public health. Much of the problem is tied to fast fashion’s business model, which promotes cheap, mass-produced apparel with limited longevity.
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- We’ve Now Entered the $50 Billion Era of Secondhand Luxury
