H&M Published and Removed Higg Index Environmental Scorecard After Quartz Called It Out for Misleading Data

An investigation of the environmental scorecard posted by fast-fashion company H&M has been released. According to Quartz, the scorecard was misleading. In some instances, it was outright deceptive. Some data posted on the H&M website were allegedly the opposite of the result released by the Higg Index.

H&M removed the scorecards from its website after being called out for its findings. The fast-fashion brand did not reply. Yet, the company released a statement defending the goals of the index.

"We came across a couple of technical issues that we are looking into," but didn't elaborate.

It defends the goals of the Higg Index: "We want to be able to share understandable sustainability performance data on a product level and we want this data to be industry standardized."

(Photo : Andre Benz)
H&M, NYC

Higg Index: H&M Environmental Scorecard in Question

The company in question is Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) which is responsible for the Higg Sustainability Profiles or the Higg Index. Through the index, customers can compare the impact of their purchases on the environment with the company's help. The index includes the amount of water and fossil fuels used in creating a brand's piece of clothing compared to conventional fabrics.

Based on Quartz's investigation, there was a mismatch in the result posted on H&M's website compared to the Higg Index result. The news publication said more than 100 women's clothing scorecards included errors. But Quartz could not determine if the errors were present since it was posted in May 2021.

Quartz also said in many cases, the data displayed on H&M's website had a mismatch in the garment's picture. One error is that H&M posted that a dress used 20% less water. But it was -20% in the Higg Index. It means that the dress used 20% more water than the average.

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SAC Plans to Review Higg Index Methodology Used by H&M

SAC announced that it would pause the Higg Index after H&M received a warning from the Norwegian Consumer Authority. SAC's CEO Amina Razvi said that the company engaged with both critics and stakeholders regarding the tool's issue. Razvi said that the tools were constantly evolving based on the best available science and feedback.

While the tool is on hiatus, Razvi said it would meet with the NCA for the methodology's misconception or misunderstanding. SAC also planned to do a third-party review of the methodology and data.

Philippa Grogan of Eco-Age said that Higg is only looking at midday to 3 pm when thinking of the lifecycle assessment of sustainability as a clock face. Grogan said that it was only a very selective part of the impact.

"To represent how sustainable a product is, we need the assessment to go from midnight to midnight-so not just from cradle to shop, but from cradle to grave," she said.

Grogan emphasized that Higg did not provide information on whether a garment was biodegradable or would release microplastics. She added, "This is textbook greenwashing ... they're misleading consumers by attaching this wildly inaccurate data to clothes and footwear."

According to Investopedia, greenwashing is the unproven claim deceiving consumers into believing that a company produced an environmentally friendly product.