Marks & Spencer Lead The Pack

Marks & Spencer have stepped up in our good books with the report of their half-year progress of Plan A, their eco/ethical programme to become the world's most sustainable major retailer by 2015. 70 of the 180 commitments placed in March have been achieved so far such as...

• M&S stores, offices and distribution centres in the UK are now recycling 92 per cent of their operational waste, up from the 53 per cent reported in June and 41 per cent in 2008/09. Solutions are now being trialled to recycle the remaining eight per cent of waste so that M&S can achieve its commitment to send zero waste to landfill by 2012.

• Environmental charity Groundwork UK has announced 20 new M&S-sponsored Greener Living Spaces for 2011, funded by the profit from the 5p food carrier bag charge. These include community allotments in Northern Ireland, a community orchard project in West Yorkshire and a wildlife garden in North Wales. Since launch £3.6 million has been donated, funding 79 Greener Living Spaces.   

• 25 M&S stores are now using environmentally friendly CO₂ refrigeration systems and a further 175 stores have been converted to refrigeration systems which use a cleaner HFC (R407a) gas that instantly halves harmful emissions should they escape.

• Between June and September 340 M&S stores successfully completed a charity challenge to raise over £1 million in 100 days.  290 charities benefited from the fundraising which included fun runs, fancy dress, fashion shows, cycling tours, bake sales and charity bag packers.

• In September M&S collected £1million worth of clothing for Oxfam, through its first ever ‘One Day Wardrobe Clearout’. Customers donated over 350,000 items of unwanted clothing, helping raise money for Oxfam and reducing the amount of clothing sent to landfill, whilst earning a £5 voucher for their local M&S store.

Marc Bolland, Chief Executive has said: “Plan A is an integral part of our business and at the heart of the M&S brand. It gives us something uniquely different – something that's 'Only at M&S'. We’ve achieved a great deal and we now want to make sure that more of our 21 million customers get involved in Plan A, making it easier for them to live more sustainable lifestyles.”

As you can see the retail giant has been pretty busy this year and have also stated that 20 of their planned commitments are on course to be fulfilled by April 2011 !