Major global brands Nike, H&M, Burberry and Gap have joined the Make Fashion Circular scheme of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to reduce global waste from fashion by recycling raw materials and products. The four brands will join British designer Stella McCartney, who last year became the first to sign up to the initiative, which aims to eliminate waste and pollution and ensure products and materials are reused.

The participating brands will spend three years developing practical ways in which the industry can move away from polluting materials and processes, working with HSBC bank. H&M has set a target of only using recycled or other sustainably sourced materials by 2030, he said, and 35 percent of its garments are currently produced that way.