Understanding the Fibres in Your Clothes

Our Primark Cares label is changing

You may have noticed that we’ve had a range of clothing labelled with the ‘Primark Cares’ logo in our stores and online. The product in this range are made using recycled or more sustainably sourced fibres, included in the list below.

However, we’ve now progressed to a point where a significant majority of our clothes are now made using these fibres, and these numbers are continuing to increase. So, we’ve decided we no longer need a separate Primark Cares range of clothing.

What does that mean for me?

You’ll soon notice that the Primark Cares logo won’t be included on our product labels or on our website product pages. Updates to our product labels take time, so it may be a while before the logo is fully phased out.

But don’t worry – the removal of the logo is all that is changing! We will continue to grow the use of recycled or more sustainably sourced materials in our clothes. You will still be able find out what are products are made of on our website and product labels instore.

You can read more about our Primark Cares commitments here.

Primark Fibres

Plant-derived fibres

Defined by us as fibres which are sourced and harvested directly from plants.

Organic cotton

Cotton is a soft fibre grown on cotton plants. Organic cotton is grown using methods which have a lower environmental impact than growing conventional cotton. It is certified to a universally recognised high standard (either Organic Content Standard (OCS) or Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS).​

Cotton from the Primark Cotton Project (formerly the Primark Sustainable Cotton Programme)

This cotton comes from our Primark Cotton Project, the biggest of its kind of any fashion retailer. This programme trains farmers to grow cotton using less water, chemical fertilisers and pesticides, which helps to reduce the environmental impact of the cotton we source and improve farmer livelihoods. You can find out more here.

Modal, lyocell and sustainable viscose

Modal, lyocell and more sustainable viscose are fibres made using the cellulose found in wood. To protect ancient forests and their biodiversity, the wood used to make these fibres is sourced from responsibly managed forests. Our Wood and Wood-Derived Fibre Policy sets out our approach to responsibly sourcing these materials.

More about sustainable viscose

When we talk about sustainable viscose, we use the following criteria:

• It is certified by a recognised forest management certification scheme.

• It must be sourced from producers that are green rate by Canopy’s Hot Button ranking.

We are currently exploring a more specific way to describe the viscose fibres we use in our products and will update our glossary to reflect this in due course.

Recycled cotton

Recycled cotton is made using cotton waste which is spun into new fibres. Recycled cotton used in Primark product is verified to a universally recognised high standard; either the Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) or the Global Recycled Standard (GRS).

Recycled acrylic

Acrylic is a man-made fibre. Recycled acrylic is made using acrylic fabric waste which is spun into new fibres. Recycled acrylic used in a Primark product is certified to a universally recognised standard; either the Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) or the Global Recycled Standard (GRS).

Recycled polyamide (nylon)

Polyamide is a man-made fibre, often called nylon. Recycled polyamide is made from plastic waste which is spun into new fibres. Recycled polyamide used in a Primark product is certified to a universally recognised standard; either the Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) or the Global Recycled Standard (GRS).​

Recycled polyester

Polyester is a man-made fibre. Recycled polyester is made from plastic waste which is spun into new fibres. Recycled polyester used in a Primark product is certified to a universally recognised standard; either the Recycled Content Standard (RCS) or the Global Recycled Standard (GRS).

Recycled metal

Recycled metals used at Primark include zinc, steel, brass and iron. These are certified to a universally recognised high standard; either the Recycled Content Standard (RCS) or the Global Recycled Standard (GRS).

More complex product categories such as lingerie, swimwear, outerwear, homeware, shoes and toys may include trims, embellishments and/or non-fabric materials. In these cases, the fibre composition claim on the product label will only relate to the part of the product that contains the recycled or more sustainably sourced material. This is to allow the product to meet our durability requirements, or because there are currently no more sustainable fibre alternatives available for these trims, embellishments and/or non-fabric materials.

This fibre glossary reflects the majority of the recycled or more sustainably sourced fibres used in our products, and it is regularly updated to reflect any changes. There may be instances where our product labels differ to this glossary, as updates to our product labelling can take some time.