Zara owner boosts sustainability goals as fast-fashion feels the heat

Zara owner Inditex boosted its sustainability targets on Tuesday, saying it would make all its textile products from fibres that have a "reduced impact on the environment" by 2030, as fast-fashion retailers face growing pressure to cut waste.

The world's biggest fashion company estimates that by the end of the decade around 40% of its fibres would come from conventional recycling and 25% from sustainably farmed crops, Chief Executive Oscar Garcia Maceiras said at the company's annual shareholders' meeting.

Another 25% would come from next-generation materials in which the Spanish group is investing, and the remaining 10% from other sustainable sources.

The company previously had targets to use more sustainable cotton, linen, polyester, and fibres made from wood pulp, but did not have a specific target for use of recycled fibres.

The new targets come as the European Commission is drawing up regulations to make clothing retailers pay for the waste the industry produces, arguing that fast-fashion companies "encourage customers to shop impulsively and incentivise purchasing larger quantities of clothes".

Central to Inditex's sustainability strategy will be working to reach its goal of net-zero emissions by 2040.

The company also committed investments to help regenerate five million hectares of woodland worldwide by 2030.

It plans to continue investing in companies such as Circ, the only start-up with a technology that successfully separates polyester and cotton - which are often blended in textiles - for recycling into new fabric, Garcia Maceiras added.

Zara launched its first women's capsule collection earlier this year and Circ is working on a new one, according to a source at Inditex's U.S. partner.