M&S Plan A sustainability savings reach £135m

Marks & Spencer’s Plan A sustainability strategy has racked up £135m worth of savings over the past year, a 29 per cent increase on the previous 12 months. The £30m extra net benefit is one of a number of achievements recorded in figures the retailer issued yesterday, including confirmation 45 per cent of products now come under the Plan A programme, in that they are Fairtrade, organic, carbon neutral, or made from recycled material, up from 30 per cent last year. The company also announced it has now clocked up its one billionth sustainable product sold. In addition, the retailer revealed it has decreased carbon emissions 23 per cent since Plan A was launched in 2007, after achieving carbon neutral status in 2012 through a combination of reductions and offsetting. Meanwhile, waste levels are down 28 per cent and water use has fallen 27 per cent over the same period. Of the 180 Plan A targets Marks & Spencer aims to achieve by 2015, 139 have already been ticked off, while a further 31 are “on plan” to be achieved, five are “behind plan”, four have not been achieved and one, concerning electrical products the company no longer sells, has been cancelled. More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: UK | Company: Marks & Spencer | Source: businessGreen