Marks & Spencer has released its annual ‘How We Do Business Report’, which documents progress on its five year, 100 point sustainability plan, Plan A including updates on its carrier bag, waste, emissions and recycling plans.
M&S said it was prepared to invest £200m over five years under Plan A, but "cost savings made on climate change and waste initiatives have already made it cash positive" it said in a statement.
The report is spearheaded by its 125th anniversary campaign for its staff to raise £1.25m for local charities in 125 days.
Half way through the plan, 39 of the 100 commitments have been completed. Of these, 24 commitments have been extended to cover even more ambitious targets.
Among the points M&S announced it is the lead rewards partner in an innovative new recycling scheme being trialled in the Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead which, it hopes, will encourage households to recycle by awarding them points which they can swap for M&S vouchers.
A year after the decision to charge 5p for single use food carrier bags was made, the retailer has cut the use of the bags by 83 per cent from 464 to 77mbags. The £1.2m profit generated from the charge has gone to the environmental charity Groundwork and is being used to create or improve ‘greener living spaces’ such as parks, play areas and gardens.
M&S has increased the amount of electricity sourced from 'green' tariff renewable suppliers from two per cent to 31 per cent. It continues to encourage farmers and suppliers both within our supply base and outside to help build capacity to generate energy from renewable sources including wind, anaerobic digestion and small scale hydro-electric power.
Te retailer is aiming to stop sending waste to landfill from its UK stores, offices and warehouses; reduce our use of non-glass packaging by 25 per cent and carrier bags by 33 per cent; find new ways to recycle and reuse the materials it uses.
It also announced it has became the first major retailer to use only Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper for all of its till roll. As well as carrying the FSC logo the new receipts are also lighter than their predecessors, using eight per cent less pulp - this means the equivalent of saving over 800 trees per year.
Sir Stuart Rose, executive chairman of M&S, said: “We continue to make strong progress on Plan A. The economic downturn has made our targets more challenging but we don’t think this is a reason to compromise, or an excuse to not deliver on our commitments.
“Plan A isn’t only important to us, it’s also significant to our customers. They’ve told us that despite the impact of the recession our commitment to the environment and trading fairly is still important to them.
“This year marks our 125th anniversary and we have always nurtured the belief that business conducted ethically and responsibly can deliver benefits - it’s how we do business. Over the years customers have come to rely on us to do the right thing, a responsibility we don’t take lightly. Plan A builds on this heritage and goes back to the belief that being responsible can also be profitable.”
The retailers’ 100 Plan A commitments which were launched in January 2007.
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