Zara

Commons couldn't find information on Zara's materials at a brand-level. Zara's parent company, Inditex, reports using a majority of lower emissions or certified materials, including recycled cotton, organic cotton, recycled polyester, and linen. It's unclear what proportion of these materials Zara uses, but it does still use some higher emissions materials like virgin polyester, polyurethane, and conventional rubber and cotton. It uses materials that have certifications from GOTS, RCS, OCS, and others. Inditex is a member of the Better Cotton Initiative. Zara's parent company has overall plans to reduce its reliance on high emissions materials, which include reaching 100% 'lower impact' materials by 2030, and it has reported on progress towards these goals within the last year.

Zara's parent company, Inditex, shares information on its overall energy strategy. It uses an unknown proportion of renewable energy to power its production sites, and has reached 100% renewable energy in its offices and stores. Inditex has targets for expanding its use of renewable energy in manufacturing to 100% by 2040. It implements energy efficiency measures in its production sites, corporate offices, and storefronts. Zara sources and manufactures its materials globally, which is standard practice in the textile industry.

Zara doesn't report on its packaging at a brand-level. Its parent company, Inditex, reports reducing its single-use plastic waste, but it's unclear if it still primarily relies on plastic packaging. Inditex has made efforts to minimize the amount of material used in its packaging overall. Inditex is working to reduce its shipping emissions to customers by increasing its use of ocean and ground transportation, and exploring alternative fuels.

Zara offers paid repair options, including: in-store repair, send-in for repair. Zara doesn't offer a warranty. It gives basic care instructions that can help extend product lifespan.

Zara has a take back program called Zara Pre-Owned. This program accepts the brand's own clothes for resale. Zara doesn't share details on the efficacy of this program. We expect larger brands to share this information.

Zara is a fast fashion brand which continually overproduces products, incentivizes overconsumption, and creates excess waste.

Commons is still evaluating this brand's marketing emails.

Commons couldn't find a sustainability page on Zara's consumer site, and it doesn't link to its parent company's pages. We expect large brands with greater resources and responsibility to publish this information to consumers. Its parent company, Inditex, publishes annual reports, with limited, high-level information on initiatives and impact. Its last annual report was published in 2024.

Zara's parent company, Inditex, internally measures and publicly reports its company-level emissions. The last reporting period was 2024. It includes a breakdown by scope and identifies its top driver of emissions, but excludes some categories and does not report its full footprint. In its most recent update, its reported emissions footprint was 13,920,988 tons CO2e. It is one of highest emitting brands in the industry, and in 2023 it was 2nd only to Shein.

Inditex, Zara's parent company, has SBTi-approved emissions reduction targets for the short-term (1-5 years), medium-term (5-10 years), long-term (10+ years). It has reported on its progress within the past year, but is not on track for any of its targets. This is a concerning backslide from its last progress update, given its industry-topping emissions footprint. Commons couldn't find evidence that this brand offsets any emissions.

Zara's parent company, Inditex, publishes information about its supply chain partners on Open Supply Hub, disclosing their names and locations across Tier 1 (final production manufacturing), Tier 2-3 (materials and packaging sourcing), Tier 4 (raw materials origins). It publicly shares a supplier code of conduct, which ensures the right to collective bargaining, prohibits forced labor, prohibits child labor, disallows unauthorized subcontracting. Its code of conduct doesn't ensure a living wage, establish grievance mechanisms, or include firm environmental clauses. Inditex has a stated policy of regularly auditing its supply chain partners, which can help mitigate human and environmental risks.