Summary: Adidas, H&M Group, Inditex and Denmark's Bestseller have jointly launched the Apparel Recovery Coalition (ARC), which in 2026 will begin a two-year pilot at the Kantamanto second-hand clothing market in Accra, Ghana, to test a producer responsibility business model and fund textile recycling projects. About 25 million garments circulate through Kantamanto each month, with local nonprofit The Or Foundation and circular economy organization Circle Economy taking part.

Key points

  • The four fashion companies, together with The Or Foundation and Circle Economy, have established the Apparel Recovery Coalition, focused on reuse, recycling and upcycling of post-consumer textiles.
  • The first demonstration project is located at the Kantamanto market in Accra, Ghana, focusing on infrastructure improvements, environmental remediation and skills training; another demonstration project is planned in another major importer of second-hand clothing.
  • Adidas, H&M Group, Inditex and Bestseller will contribute voluntarily; the amounts were not disclosed. Inditex used about 705,600 tonnes of raw materials in 2024, up about 4% year on year.

A producer responsibility experiment starting from the Ghanaian market

The Apparel Recovery Coalition (ARC) was announced at the Kantamanto market in Accra, Ghana's capital. It is one of the world's largest hubs for second-hand clothing trading and textile recovery. According to The Or Foundation, about 25 million garments re-enter circulation through the market each month, and thousands of traders, repairers and related workers form a vast informal circular economy network that extends the life of clothes that might otherwise be discarded.

But the market also exposes the environmental costs of international second-hand textile exports. Clothing that cannot be resold or recycled adds to waste piles and water and soil pollution, with the burden falling mainly on local communities and municipal waste systems. ARC says it will build on The Or Foundation's 15 years of work in Ghana's circular textile ecosystem, incorporating community perspectives into governance, design and implementation, and "testing more inclusive approaches."

Two-year pilot and funding

Under the plan, ARC will spend two years developing and testing a producer responsibility business model that reflects international textile trade flows, and will bring brands, recyclers, sorting companies, policymakers and affected communities into discussions on practical solutions. The first demonstration project in Accra will cover infrastructure upgrades, environmental remediation and training; a second is planned in another country that receives large volumes of second-hand clothing.

On funding, the four founding companies will provide voluntary financial support but have not disclosed the total. ARC hopes to examine how extended producer responsibility (EPR) frameworks can support textile recycling in transnational supply chains — such frameworks require producers to take more financial or operational responsibility for products after sale and at end of life, and over time may in turn influence product design, waste management costs and investment decisions in recycling infrastructure. The coalition says evidence and practical experience from the demonstration projects will inform brands, policymakers and producer responsibility organizations (PROs) in improving global post-consumer textile management.

Production data and governance challenges

The coalition's launch comes as the fashion industry's resource consumption faces closer scrutiny. Inditex disclosed raw material use of 705,554 tonnes for its products, up from 678,596 tonnes the previous year, an increase of about 4%; H&M Group said its 2025 production was 364,093 tonnes, equivalent to the weight of about 36 Eiffel Towers. These figures mean the tension between pursuing commercial growth and meeting circular economy commitments remains stark — recycling efforts can reduce the impact of waste, but their effect depends on product durability, material choices and overall production volumes.

More difficult still is the cross-border mismatch in governance: when products reach end of life, they are often far from the countries where brands first sold them. For multinational fashion companies, stronger accountability may bring new compliance obligations and financing requirements; for importing countries, effective producer responsibility mechanisms may translate into resources for infrastructure, environmental protection and local circular industries. ARC plans to expand the range of participating companies and other stakeholders in the future, and whether its results can produce workable, scalable financing and recycling models will determine the long-term weight of this experiment — and may offer governments and investors a new reference point for assessing the fashion industry's environmental footprint.

Source: Adidas, H&M and Inditex Launch Coalition to Tackle Global Textile Waste · Originally published 2026-10-12