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The well-known retailer Marks and Spencer (M&S) is dedicated to sustainability and holds that ethical business practices not only advance society and the environment but also increase profits. The business unveiled its ground-breaking Plan A program in 2007, establishing new sustainability benchmarks for the sector. As part of its corporate transformation in 2021, M&S updated its sustainability strategy with a renewed emphasis on becoming a net-zero firm by 2040.
Marks and Spencer's Head of Marketing Strategy, Andrew Hill, expressed his appreciation for the business's commitment to sustainability. He emphasized how important it is for companies to shape the environmental agenda and praised M&S for being a pioneer in this area. Hill underlined the need for everyone to work together to discover solutions and make the necessary adjustments to advance sustainable retailing.
The collaborative character of M&S's sustainability advancement was stressed by Carmel McQuaid, Head of Sustainable Business at the retailer. She appreciated the contributions made by coworkers from a variety of departments, including retail, logistics, analytics, digital, technology, international operations, sourcing offices, and buying teams. McQuaid emphasized that everyone can contribute to using sustainable practices to have a beneficial effect on clients, coworkers, shareholders, the environment, and society, regardless of their position.
The Group Sustainability Strategy of M&S includes promises to address social and environmental issues. By 2040, M&S wants to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across Scopes 1, 2, and 3. This pledge reflects the company's resetting of Plan A to put environmental aims first while also supporting the Paris Climate Agreement and the UN's Race to Zero initiative.
The business acknowledges that indirect emissions (Scope 3) linked to its value chain account for 94% of its carbon footprint, underscoring the significance of working with reliable suppliers to cut these emissions. The Science Based Target program approved M&S's 2030 corporate greenhouse gas emissions reduction target in 2022.
M&S has made a commitment to lowering its carbon emissions, and has established interim goals for 2025–2026, 2029–2030, and 2034–2035. To achieve its net-zero objectives, the organization is actively working on ten priority areas. Additionally, M&S is dedicated to including all relevant parties in its pursuit of net-zero emissions, including clients, employees, supplier partners, and industry partners.
M&S wants to achieve net-zero carbon emissions from plastics and packaging by 2040. The business is actively supporting closed-loop recycling and minimizing single-use plastic. By 2025, M&S wants all of its packaging to be recyclable, and by 2027, it hopes to have completely phased out plastic from food packaging.
M&S offers 100% recyclable plastic Bags for Life, which may be returned for a replacement or recycling, and encourages customers to use less bags. Additionally, the company's Foodhalls no longer sell single-use shopping bags or tiny produce bags.
Another area of attention is online packaging, where M&S is switching to more environmentally friendly options and seeking user input to enhance its packaging options.
More than 1 billion hangers have been kept out of landfills thanks to M&S programs, which demonstrate their strong commitment to hanger reuse and recycling. In the company's closed-loop hanger recycling project, some hangers are returned to the garment suppliers, and the remainder is recycled.
M&S has installed plastic collection facilities at all of its stores in the UK and Ireland to address the issue of plastic waste, enabling consumers to recycle their used plastic packaging. The business is also developing a method to recycle online-purchased beauty packaging.
Through collaboration with organizations like the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Rainforest Alliance, Greenpeace, WWF, and Canopy, the corporation actively participates in campaigns to stop deforestation. M&S is adamant about supporting sustainable land management while avoiding deforestation in its supply chains.
The goal of M&S's efforts to secure responsible sourcing of wood, soy, man-made cellulosic fibers, and palm oil is to reach 100% responsibly sourced palm oil, physically certified soy that has not been produced through deforestation, and man-made cellulosic fibers that are rated green.
The sustainability programs at Marks and Spencer cover a wide range of activities, from lowering carbon emissions to preventing plastic waste and deforestation. The company's dedication to ethical business practices that help the environment and society is reflected in these initiatives.
With initiatives to reduce, reuse, and recycle waste, including food waste, M&S is dedicated to attaining zero waste to landfill from its UK and Republic of Ireland businesses.
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