M&S becomes 'carbon neutral'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jun/07/marks-spencer-carbon-neutral-sustainability

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M&S has become the first major UK retailer to become fully 'carbon neutral', the company said on Thursday, five years after launching its sustainability project, 'Plan A'.

But despite the company's progress in meeting many of the targets in its programme, its management admit disappointment at its failure to meet some of the more ambitious challenges, such as tripling sales of organic food and drink.

The 2012 How We Do Business Report, published on Thursday, sets out in detail the progress of the 180 commitments set out to ensure sustainable policies are at the heart of every aspect of its business, including its complex international supply chain.

The social and environmental issues addressed by M&S range from energy saving and carbon emissions to Fairtrade and animal welfare; from waste management to sustainable sourcing of timber and fish.

In 2010 it announced an extended Plan A with 80 new commitments to achieve by 2015 and the ultimate goal of becoming the world's most sustainable major retailer.

The new report reveals that 138 commitments have been achieved and a further 30 are 'on plan', ie on target to be met within the specified timescale. Overall the net benefit of Plan A to the business last year was £105m – a 50% increase on the £70m delivered in 2010/11.

The company says it is now fully carbon neutral, after reducing energy usage by 28% through more efficient refrigeration, and counting renewable energy tariffs and offsetting.

The company also now recycles 100% of its waste. Of its food waste from stores, 89% goes straight to anaerobic digestors to generate energy and the rest is composted. And 31% of M&S products – £3bn worth — now have a Plan A attribute such as Fairtrade, organic or made from recycled material. The longer-term goal is that by 2020, all M&S products – nearly three billion sold annually – will have at least one sustainable characteristic.

The retailer had aimed to triple sales of organic food and drink by 2012. But while sales of Fairtrade products have increased by 88% -and organic products are popular in its 300 cafes – sales of organic products in store remain broadly the same as in 2007.

And it has also fallen slightly short of its target that by 2012 100% of wood, such as kitchenware and furniture, would be FSC or equivalent or recycled, reporting that the figure was 84%.

Mike Barry, head of sustainable business at M&S, said: "There are a couple of disappointments but these are challenging economic times and M&S deserves eight out of ten for making some substantive achievements in the first five years of Plan A. This detailed evaluation shows the powerful business case for the initiative. We look forward to working further with our 21 million shoppers to make further progress by 2020."

Most recently, M&S expanded its existing partnership with Oxfam through the launch of 'shwopping' – promoted by actress Joanna Lumley, which encourages shoppers to hand over an item of discarded clothing when they buy something new.